Go Fish!

[Mark_Mandel at DRAGONSYS.COM]

Player A says, "Give me all your [e.g.:] threes", or "Do you have any threes?"

If player B has any, s/he must comply, and player A gets to ask for cards of
another rank.

If not, however, player B says "Go fish!", and player A must "fish" by drawing
the top card from the stock pile. If the card drawn is of the rank demanded
(here, a three), player A shows it to player B and gets another turn. If not,
it's player B's turn.

Thus I learned the game* (some rules omitted here), and the name, which makes
perfect sense according to these rules. "Gold Fish" must be a mondegreen, from
children who have seen goldfish in bowls but have never gone fishing. (Maybe
they are also L-vocalizers and final-stop-droppers.)

* In the 1950's, probably from my maternal grandmother, b. 1889, NYC.

-- Mark