As sport, and rugby in particular, becomes more professional, a new vernacular has emerged. Delist came to the fore earlier this week. Sports reporters Steve Hepburn and Adrian Seconi look at some words which have crept into the sporting language.

Delist
This word was virtually unheard of until a couple of weeks ago.

Out of the blue, Super 15 players who were not wanted by their sides, or who wanted out of that team, were said to be delisted.

It is a technical term. It is either being dumped by a team or the player wanting to leave. In football it would be like being put on the transfer list.

The full list of the delisted from the five squads has yet to be released by the New Zealand Rugby Union.

Franchise
It is one of those awful Americanisms which has taken hold in the last decade. It is not a club or a team, it is a franchise.

And the term makes sport sound all very business-like. You're not supporting "the team" any more, you're supporting the brand.

Work-ons
Last we looked this word or phase was not in the dictionary. It is cultural shorthand for working on a particular aspect of an athlete's performance. What athletes might want to work on is their English skills instead. Stop speaking in text language.

Workloads
No-one gets dropped any more.

They are rested or rotated to manage their workload. Perhaps the egos of professional athletes are so fragile these days it is necessary to tread lightly.

Toughen up. The fans know when a player has been axed. Call it like it is.

Sabbatical
Half the English speaking world had no idea what this word meant until Dan Carter's sojourn to France at the end of 2008. Now it is all the rage for those elite rugby players valuable and shrewd enough to have it written into their contracts. Wonder if the boss would mind if we popped away for six months or so.

Recovery
Rugby players are always talking about doing recovery. First of all you don't do recovery. What you are actually doing is mild exercise or splashing around in the pool like a toddler. And when you've spent 70 minutes on the bench, what is it you are actually recovering from? The all-night Xbox session?

Debrief
Really? We understand the need for some support if you are returning from a six-month stint in Afghanistan, but is a debrief necessary after a sporting fixture?

What actually happens is probably a lot of swearing or slaps on the back, depending on whether the game was won or lost. The dressing room is not a place of infinite psychological depth.

Legacy
The All Blacks of late have been using this a lot. No longer is it about getting out and playing well for king and country. It is about protecting the legacy.

What has come before has become a huge part of the All Blacks. And in some ways that is true and wins them many games.

A fear that if they start losing games they will fail all those that have gone before them is a big driving force behind the national side's success.

Journey
Poor old John Mitchell.

His time came too early as All Black coach.

He started talking about the journey to winning.

Just go out and win more like.

Throw in the dropping of the likes of Christian Cullen, Taine Randell and Anton Oliver, and when the All Blacks lost in the 2003 World Cup then Mitchell was on a journey to Coventry as far as the NZRU was concerned.

Bosman
As a footballer, Jean-Marc Bosman was decidedly average.

But in the court room he was the equivalent of Pele, Maradona and Messi rolled into one. His successful case won the rights of players in Europe to leave of their own free will at the end of their contract.

That changed the landscape of European football forever and made contracts just that much more worthless. Any player who stays until the end of their contract, and make a load of money on their behalf, is now said to be doing a "Bosman"