The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language

by Melvyn Bragg

Paddle-steamers, river boats, the Mississippi and other swathes of slow-moving water shifting traffic around territories brand new to the immigrants: what better stage for gambling? It became the favourite activity among river-boat passengers. Some travelled only to gamble. Some never got off. English was on the cards. “Pass the buck” and “the buck stops here” both come from card games. The “buck” was originally a buckhorn-handled knife passed round to show who was dealing. Gamblers put many fine phrases into the word-kitty. “Deal” itself became the power behind phrases such as “new deal,” “square deal,” “fair deal,” “raw deal,” “big deal”; “you bet!,” “put up or shut up!,” “I’ll call your bluff,” which were first heard around the American card table, perhaps on a river boat gliding down to New Orleans. Thanks to these dedicated gambling men you can today have “an ace up your sleeve” so you put “up the ante” and when someone “throws in his hand” you keep a “poker face.” Even when the “chips are down” and “the cards are stacked against you” you can play a “wild card” and “scoop the jackpot.”