A.Word.A.Day --euchre

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Mar 24, 2014

This week's theme
Words derived from card games

This week's words
euchre
vole
house of cards
spoof
trump card

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Popular wisdom says it's not the cards that you hold, but how you play them that makes the difference. Or as I like to say, it's not the tiles on your rack, it's what words you make with them that counts.

Playing cards have been around for much longer -- they have had a thousand-year lead over Scrabble. Understandably, they also have a head start when it comes to being a part of the language. Many terms from card games have entered the English language. This week we'll deal with five of them.

(Also see a week of terms from poker from the archives.)

euchre

PRONUNCIATION:

(YOO-kuhr)

MEANING:

verb tr.: To cheat, trick, or outwit.
noun: A card game for two to four players usually played with the 32 highest cards in the pack.

ETYMOLOGY:

Of uncertain origin. Perhaps from the Alsatian game of Juckerspiel as the two top trumps are Jucker (jack). The verb sense of the word arises from the fact that the failure to win three tricks is known as being euchred and results in the opponent scoring two points. Earliest documented use: 1846.

USAGE:

"You got euchred. The company lied to you about its status and you foolishly bought its lie."
Colin Barrett; A Harsh Lesson on Due Diligence; Journal of Commerce (New York); May 23, 2013.

See more usage examples of euchre in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it. -Jean Paul Richter, writer (1763-1825)

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