Does anyone know where the term "Upset" came from when referring to a non-favorite winning?

Question

Before this event happened, upset only meant things like an upset stomach or you upset me and I'm mad. This sporting event(and it can be any) changed the whole structure of the word. It's a good trivia question.

I understand what you are saying Scotty, but still look at your last sentence. Before this event you would have said it turned the canoe upside down and the flip of the canoe beat the favorite team. You would use the word beat or beaten not upset. It was this event that made it an "upset" and not just the non favorite winning or the favorite losing.

I didn't know that uk. Thanks for sharing that. Here's a hint. It involves Horseracing. Stake horses, the real good ones. All of them are to compete with each other.

Wow Karen, that is not only correct but overwhelmingly the best answer. I learned several things here from all of you which is why I even asked the question. Thanks to everyone.

Answer 1

The use of upset as a noun in sports writing to indicate an unexpected result in a contest dates to the late 19th century. It was a fairly common term dating back to 1877. From the New York Times of 17 July of that year:

The programme for to-day at Monmouth Park indicates a victory for the favorite in each of the four events, but racing is so uncertain that there may be a startling upset.

It is commonly claimed, however, that this use of upset as a noun stems from a classic 1919 horse race that pitted Man o’ War, probably the greatest race horse of all time, against an unlikely opponent named Upset.

During his career, Man o’ War lost only one race, the 13 August 1919 Stanford Memorial at Saratoga. Man o’ War was heavily favored to win, but lost to a horse named Upset. This, the legend goes, is where the sports term upset comes from. Man o’ War would face Upset in five other races, winning every one, but this, according the tale, one loss early in his career would be the one to make lexicographic history.

Most lexicographers and etymologists thought the story too good to be true, but no one could disprove it. Sporting usages of upset prior to 1919 just could not be found. Then in late 2002, researcher George Thompson, using the newly available tools of full-text online searching of the New York Times databases, turned up a string of sporting usages of upset dating back to the 1877 citation given above. There are numerous uses of the term in 19th century sportswriting, proving beyond a doubt that the term was well-established by the time Man o’ War lost his only race. Upset did not father a term, he was just well named.

Answer 2

You aren't using all the definitions of the word. Think of "upset" in this instance to be like "upside down" or the act of making it that way i.e. "an upset canoe" or "Jim upset his canoe and got wet". So the underdog rallying from below like a wave might to flip a canoe would "upset" the favored team.

Answer 3

I don't know for sure, but it might date back to the earlier days of gaming, and the outsider (often a hustler) would 'turn the tables' by winning. Turn the tables is another phrase for upset, if you see what I mean, and they would actually have been knocked over to indicate winning.