"Trump-tight"

[Wilson Gray]

It's used just of superior skill. That's an interesting thought,
actually. I've always kinda vaguely wondered why the St. Louis version
stands alone. When I hear "run/work game," I think, "There's a very
good possibility that someone has been played/confidenced(another St.
Louis peculiarity: the use of the full form of this
verb)/scammed/suckered." The possibility is that "whip game" is simply
a different lexical item from "running/working game." "Whipping game"
is done openly, as a display of superior skill, for bragging rights,
the delectation of the spectators, and the right to front off the
losers by telling them to "Rise and fly!": Get up out of those seats
and let the next pair of chumps sit down. Bid whist games are usually
played in the form of impromptu tournaments, with other partner-pairs
waiting to challenge the victors.

Of course, game can be whipped in any set of circumstances involviing
generally-friendly competition, including the battle of the sexes.

When I was in the Army, I occasionally met white guys who knew this
card game, but they called it "kitty whist."

-Wilson



On 1/27/06, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Trump-tight"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Does "whipped game on" etc. imply trickery or just superior skill ?
>
>   JL
>
> Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: Re: "Trump-tight"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here's another one for you, Margaret. Is the person who has pulled/run
> a Boston said to have "whipped game" or "run game" or "worked game" on
> the opposing team or is something else said? In St. Louis, it's
> "whipped," but I've heard "run" used far more widely, with an
> occasional "worked" heard here and there.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On 1/27/06, Margaret Lee wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: Margaret Lee
> > Subject: Re: "Trump-tight"
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I remember "trump-tight" from bid whist, though I'm familiar with "run a Boston" instead of "pull a Boston."
> >
> > M. Lee
> >
> >
> > Wilson Gray wrote:
> > From the site, Slang of the Week:
> >
> > "Trump-Tight- (adj.)- Super tight, crazy tight, really fucking cool.
> >
> > "Origin- No idea. I heard Snoop say it on Doggystyle.
> >
> > "Use: 'Dude, I just got the new Jay-Z record and that shit is
> > trump-tight! He's not overrated at all, bro!'"
> >
> >
> > Probable origin
> >
> > In the card game of bid whist - the social card game of choice in
> > Afrite America - when a player has a hand that consists entirely of
> > trumps, he/she is said to be "trump-tight." The person who is
> > trump-tight turns the rest of the tricks (I know, but since people
> > learn to play whist long before they learn to play the game, the pun
> > is tradionally ignored) and thereby wins the deal and, under the right
> > circumstances, also wins the game. In fact, the player may even "pull
> > a Boston," the bid-whist equivalent of a bridge grand slam, or he/she
> > may at least "pull a young Boston," the equivalent of a small slam, as
> > a consequence of being trump-tight.
> >
> > "Trump-tight" is, to quote The Clovers, "a real fine way to be!"
> >
> > -Wilson Gray
> >
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