What’s the Word: Sometimes language can be a gamble
With the referendum on a state lottery coming up in November, people have been talking a lot about the effect of gambling on our society. Certainly there is no doubt it has an effect, and for those unfortunates who must deal with a loved one who is addicted, it can be a devastating one.
But it’s also pretty certain gambling has existed in some form since the beginning of civilization, and it’s pretty certain it will never go away.
But since people are looking at gambling’s effect on society, I thought I might look at its effect on our language.
And believe it or not, it has had a pretty major one. Several common phrases have their origins in gambling terms.
For instance, the phrase “dead ringer.” The phrase is used to describe a situation where two people look very much alike, but the origin of the phrase comes from horse racing.
It seems some less-than-ethical racehorse owners would have two horses who were almost identical in appearance, one slow and one fast. They would run the slow horse until the betting odds ran up high enough, then they would substitute the ringer who was much faster, thus cheating the odds. Dead, when used in this phrase, meant abrupt or exact, as dead stop or dead shot.
Another gambling-inspired phrase is “dicey situation.” We all know that means a situation that is potentially risky or dangerous. This one is pretty obvious, since many games of chance, like craps, are played with dice. Most of us realize such games of chance are risky and the outcome uncertain, hence the “dicey” reference in the phrase.
And here’s one people use a lot, “pass the buck.” This one refers to people who hand off responsibility to someone else if something gets difficult. Apparently, some card games utilize a marker called a buck, with the “buck” indicating the current dealer. So when the buck is passed to the next player, so is the responsibility for dealing.
This one is especially interesting because it spawned another common phrase, one that was popularized by President Harry Truman, who was fond of saying, “the buck stops here,” meaning he wouldn’t pass the responsibility off to someone else if presented with a difficult problem, a trait that endeared him to many, since it was pretty rare in most politicians of the time.
Penny ante poker is the origin of one of my favorites, due to my tendency to offer my opinion even when it hasn’t been specifically requested. The phrase is “put my two cents in.”
Anyone who has played poker probably knows where this one comes from. When you are playing that erstwhile game, you have to make a small bet before the cards are dealt. This is called an “ante” and can be as little as two cents, certainly in the games I play anyway.
So “putting your two cents worth in” gains you entry into the conversation, whether they want you or not, and in my case, it’s probably mostly not. But hey, I do have a lot of cents, as opposed to sense, which would lead me to stay out of it, and out of trouble as well.
Another one I find interesting is “when the chips are down.” This one is used to indicate hard times or when things are looking bad. This is another pretty obvious one if one is a card player.
Most of us know that different colored chips are used in the place of money in a lot of games of chance. If you win, you accumulate a lot of chips, but if you lose, the chips begin dwindling down. Not good.
That’s why it’s nice to have a friend when the chips are down, since you can hit him up for a loan.
On the other hand, that can lead to some pretty dicey situations.
(Charlie Johnson is a reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at standard@blomand.net.)