Deer in the headlights (1986, 1988); Play the "X" card

[Grant Barrett]

On Mar 4, 2004, at 09:02, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:

> On Thu, Mar 04, 2004 at 08:32:30AM -0500, Grant Barrett wrote:
>>> An OED person asked about "play the __ card" today.
>>
>> You should know better than that. I'm either an OUP person or an HDAS
>> person; I am not a part of the OED team. Maybe you could say I am an
>> ODAPS person. See how many people figure that out...
>
> Yes. Of course, a _real_ OED person would have realized that
> _play the X card_ is already in OED, with a first quote from
> 1886.

Well, I was trying to avoid playing the lexicographical telephone game
by quoting a source quoted in a source quoted in a source.

Grant