# What does ‘the ball is in your court’ mean?

To “the ball is in your court” means to it is now your turn to act. A 20th-century idiom from tennis; not in Brewer's 1898.

## What it means

- A 20th-century idiom from tennis; not in Brewer's 1898.

## Action steps

1. Common in negotiations.
2. Example: I've made my offer — the ball is in your court.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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