Learn English – Is “if winning isn’t everything then why do they keep score” a correct sentence

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We wanted to use this as a T-shirt quote, but I feel that "if winning isn't everything then why do they keep score" is wrong. The correct sentence should be "if winning isn't everything then why do they keep a score".
However, a Google search shows that I may be wrong. Only one person agrees with my sentence. Is the first sentence just incorrect American grammar?

Best Answer

"Keep score" is a (slightly) idiomatic expression that means "keeping track of the score". It is not ungrammatical to use this phrase on a T-shirt (or anywhere else). If the T-shirt had the text "keep a score", it might actually give the impression that the shirt was not made by a native English speaker.

(This is speaking as someone from the US; I don't know for certain if the expression might be different in the UK.)