tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post4883097144513776212..comments2024-03-28T16:11:36.465+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: the language of bridgelynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-30405976507936358032021-03-30T00:54:39.271+01:002021-03-30T00:54:39.271+01:00The phrase "plays a shut-out" in the ori...The phrase "plays a shut-out" in the original text should be "Pitch a shutout." Alanzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13308324124603740714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-48946060411605562272020-11-12T09:21:51.088+00:002020-11-12T09:21:51.088+00:00Thanks for this, Grhm. I send my good thoughts and...Thanks for this, Grhm. I send my good thoughts and condolences to you.lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-7980022725968796562020-11-12T04:05:30.444+00:002020-11-12T04:05:30.444+00:00This post leaves me rather folorn.
My mother would...This post leaves me rather folorn.<br />My mother would have absolutely loved this book, but sadly I can't give her a copy as she died recently.<br />She was mad-keen on bridge, having taken it up in retirement and discovered that she had considerable aptitude for it - which may have been related to her training in, and love of, mathematics.<br />Bridge became her life, basically.<br />She was good at it, becoming the Playing Captain of the local bridge club and leading them to victory in numerous tournaments.<br />I never took up her offer to teach me how to play. It never appealed. Perhaps like Lynne, I enjoy words more than numbers.<br />Anyhow, what prompted me to post is that a commenter above came perilously close to descibing bridge as "a game of cards", a description at which, I gather, bridge devotees baulk.<br />My mother told me once that on a bridge-cum-sightseeing holiday she organised, the driver of the coach repeatedly referred to their bridge as "your cards".<br />The passengers retaliated by referring to his luxury coach as "your bus".Grhmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-17967960279297109712020-11-11T14:33:58.911+00:002020-11-11T14:33:58.911+00:00Unfortunately, guest-blogger Simon C has been rebu...Unfortunately, guest-blogger Simon C has been rebuffed by Blogger in his attempts to reply to the comments so far. He's asked me to pass on this message:<br /><br />"Thanks for your interest and insights. Sorry about the Red Sox!" lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-27496604633993894262020-11-11T09:02:03.967+00:002020-11-11T09:02:03.967+00:00British newspapers sometimes have a round-up of sc...British newspapers sometimes have a round-up of scores from American sports and they once reported a result that they alleged was between the San Francisco Giants and the Detroit Lions, another baseball/NFL cross.<br /><br />Mind you, I once saw a UK newspaper report a baseball score as 33-2 after eleven innings. That must have been some 11th.Paul Dormerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00611343972547300193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-9222612536502448212020-11-11T04:07:01.738+00:002020-11-11T04:07:01.738+00:00Lynne --that reminds me that around 1980 in Bright...Lynne --that reminds me that around 1980 in Brighton there was a rather seedy pub (on the Old Steine, if I remember right) called "The Dog Tray." I think the name derived from betting on greyhound races, but the pub sign was a dog sliding downhill on a tea tray.David Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08158936621650054246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-42416485556371375792020-11-10T21:05:54.862+00:002020-11-10T21:05:54.862+00:00As an American player I use and hear 'set'...As an American player I use and hear 'set' and 'shift' all the time, hear 'down one' far more often than 'one down'. The common spoken phrase I know is 'draw trump', never draw trumps, and the term for trump and discard would be 'a ruff and a sluff'.Kathrynnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-36005864040730839682020-11-10T18:55:40.455+00:002020-11-10T18:55:40.455+00:00Yes, I expressed some of these reservations to Sim...Yes, I expressed some of these reservations to Simon (who's had trouble getting onto comments here). It's a pretty common thing in discussions of other's English that upon hearing a synonym in another English, people say "oh, that must be *the* American/British/etc. for X". But it is a fact of English that most of us have several ways of saying many things.<br /><br />One thing I enjoyed seeing, though, were deuce and trey, which just remind me of playing canasta with my grandma. :)lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-16791420920400798362020-11-10T18:42:28.449+00:002020-11-10T18:42:28.449+00:00I play a lot of bridge, possibly too much, and I c...I play a lot of bridge, possibly too much, and I can say that 'board' is pretty common for 'dummy.' Although 'board' is also used to mean a deal of the cards; as in 'tonight's game will be 8 rounds of three boards each.'<br /><br />I know one person who consistently says 'hook' for 'finesse,' but he learned to play a long time ago.<br /><br />Rather than 'discard' or 'pitch' I usually say e.g. that I will 'throw' the club losers on the good diamonds.<br /><br />For all I know there are regional variations. I'm an east-coaster.David Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08158936621650054246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-86005703838308217962020-11-10T18:02:41.290+00:002020-11-10T18:02:41.290+00:00As an American with extremely limited experience p...As an American with extremely limited experience playing bridge I may be a cult of one on my linguistic views, but I'm quite familiar with <i>dummy</i> and have never heard <i>board</i>. Ditto with <i>finesse</i> versus <i>hook</i> and <i>discard</i> versus <i>pitch</i>.<br /><br />With respect to <i>set</i> versus <i>beating the contract</i>, despite Merriam-Webster.com offering "to defeat (an opponent or a contract) in bridge" as one of its definitions of <i>set</i> I would offer a broader definition as follows (forgive the split infinitive): <i>to soundly defeat an opponent in cards.</i> My reasoning goes back to my grandfather (born 1900), who never played bridge, loved to play pinochle, and after soundly defeating anyone at that game would almost certainly have declared something like "We really set them this time!"Dick Hartzellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07065924271517452841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-34651917140668557872020-11-10T17:38:30.831+00:002020-11-10T17:38:30.831+00:00For those in the UK who care, the (Boston) Red Sox...For those in the UK who care, the (Boston) Red Sox are a baseball team, while the (San Francisco) 49ers play (American rules) football.Dick Hartzellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07065924271517452841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-9866185819313251382020-11-10T10:59:14.184+00:002020-11-10T10:59:14.184+00:00Ha! I was so intent on making the right words bold...Ha! I was so intent on making the right words bold or italic that I didn't notice that, but you are so right!lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-71307132153564115742020-11-09T20:50:56.198+00:002020-11-09T20:50:56.198+00:00‘The Red Sox downed the 49ers’?! Yikes!
We may li...‘The Red Sox downed the 49ers’?! Yikes!<br /><br />We may like some variety in how we write headlines, but I don't think that variety extends to teams in different sports competing.Joel T. Luberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01425059756986844099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-74910125935076540092020-11-09T19:23:11.756+00:002020-11-09T19:23:11.756+00:00Aha, a comment catcher (originally from LiveJourna...Aha, a comment catcher (originally from LiveJournal, now more commonly on the descendent Dreamwidth)Richard Gadsdenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10545595590359552775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-70325215977013147362020-11-09T19:21:01.250+00:002020-11-09T19:21:01.250+00:00Sluff is pretty much standard in all American casu...Sluff is pretty much standard in all American casual conversation about card games where the tactic is relevant in my experience. Discard is used in more written discussion. I've never heard ace-fourth or ace-to-four, four-with-ace would be the formula, I think.Joyce Meltonhttp://invisiblegalleries.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-15051800469966940262020-11-09T18:19:37.342+00:002020-11-09T18:19:37.342+00:00I have never learned to play bridge, although I am...I have never learned to play bridge, although I am the only one in my family who doesn't. My parents had to teach both my sister and my daughter (on separate occasions) after their respective partners were horrified to find they didn't play! After which, whenever either couple visited, a game of bridge always happened. I could have learnt, but simply was not and am not interested! <br /><br />English sport results may or may not be duller than American ones, but we are certainly up for some giggles: "Lillee, b Willey, c Dilley" is a classic, as is "East Fife, four; Forfar five." Mrs Redboots (Annabel Smyth)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11270027663691257254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-18730157162210845332020-11-09T16:54:53.409+00:002020-11-09T16:54:53.409+00:00One of the more curious bits of jargon, and one it...One of the more curious bits of jargon, and one it took me a while to get used to, is describing a suit of five cards headed by the ace as "ace-fifth." It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, taken literally, but you can see how it fills a need. Of course, you could say "five cards headed by the ace" or "ace and four others" but those are wordy. You can't say "ace-five" because that would mean those two cards. I don't know when the phrasing "ace-fifth" arose. I know someone who learned his bridge a long time ago (1940ish) and he typically says "ace five times" -- which makes even less sense, I guess.<br /><br />You can also say "ace-jack-fifth" to mean five cards including the ace and jack -- because those two are generally more important than the smaller ones.David Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08158936621650054246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-84001603807275486592020-11-09T14:28:40.195+00:002020-11-09T14:28:40.195+00:00My parents tried to teach me to play bridge in the...My parents tried to teach me to play bridge in the early 60s when I was a teen in Texas, but they gave up after a few tries. But my earliest memories include lots of bridge games between my parents and their friends, including my mother's bridge club, so I heard a lot of the language. Interestingly, I had a hard time here figuring out which words were supposed to be American; the ones I recognize almost all seem to be the British terms. djwhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01592073218947095173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-71944666923499709872020-11-09T12:55:00.714+00:002020-11-09T12:55:00.714+00:00Just sticking in a comment so I'll be notified...Just sticking in a comment so I'll be notified of the rest!lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.com