Etymology of the card game "bridge" (1893, 1899)
Bapopik at AOL.COM
Bapopik at AOL.COM
Sat Jul 8 01:27:50 UTC 2006
Another re-check on the origin of the game "bridge." Did it originate in
Russia or Istanbul or Paris? The game appears to have hit New York City about
1893. Was it ever called "Russian Whist," and what do we make of "biritch"??
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(OED)
bridge, n.
a. A card-game based upon whist. In the original form of the game the dealer
or his partner (dummy) named trumps, dummy's hand was exposed after the
lead, and the odd tricks varied in value according to the suit named as trumps.
Now = auction or contract bridge.
The game is said to have been played in Constantinople and the Near East
about 1870. Formerly also called Bridge Whist (see sense c below). The sense in
quot. 1843 is uncertain; biritch in quots. 1886 is applied to the call of ‘no
trumps’.
[1843 _J. PAGET_ (http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-p.html#j-paget)
Let. 18 Apr. in Mem. & Lett. (1901) I. vi. 144 We improved our minds in the
intellectual games of Bagatelle and Bridge.] 1886 Biritch, or Russian Whist 2
The one declaring may, instead of declaring trumps, say ‘Biritch’, which
means that the hands shall be played without trumps. Ibid. 3 The odd tricks
count as follows:If ‘Biritch’ is declared each [odd trick counts] 10 points.
Ibid. 4 There are four honours if ‘Biritch’ is declared, which are the four
aces. 1898 ‘BOAZ’ (title) The Pocket Guide to Bridge. 1898 Nat. Rev. Aug. 809
At a game of wint or bridge. 1901 ‘SLAM’ Mod. Bridge Introd., ‘Bridge’,
known in Turkey as ‘Britch’. 1963 _G. F. HERVEY_
(http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-h2.html#g-f-hervey) Handbk. Card Games 131 The modern game of
Bridge, more correctly Contract Bridge, to distinguish it from its
now-defunct predecessors, was developed by Harold S. Vanderbilt.
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_COULDN'T STAND BRIDGE WHIST.; A New Club Organized Where the Stakes Are
Very Small. _
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=109271510&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1152317739&clientId=65882)
New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Dec 10, 1893. p. 3 (1
page)
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The introduction of bridge whist in the New York Whist Club has led to the
withdrawal of a number of members and the formation of a new whist club.
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_BRIDGE WHIST THE LAST FAD.; Card Game Which Originated in Constantinople.
FAVORITE AT THE CLUBS. Combination of the Games of "Dummy" and "Boston." SOME
POINTS ON SCORING. _
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=4&did=426734141&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1152317739&clie
ntId=65882)
Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1963). Chicago, Ill.: Mar 12, 1899. p. 50 (1
page)
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The most popular variation of whist, as it is found today, embraces both of
these modifications, a dummy hand and an announced trump. We call it bridge,
and in spite of its novelty no one knows its origin. Some persons claim it
originated in Constantinople ans was taken to the French clubs in the Riviera
under the name of Khedive, afterward passing to Paris, where it received its
present name, bridge. Strange to say, it did not go thence to England, but
came first to America, being taken from New York to London in 1894. The game was
introduced to this country through the Whist club of New York, which is now
located at 11 West Thirty-sixth street. One of the members, who does not care
to have his name mentioned, had learned the game in Paris and was so
strongly impressed with its possibilities as an exercise for the intellectual
faculties that he became its apostle in the new world.
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4 October 1899, Daily Iowa State Press (Iowa City, Iowa), pg. ?, col. 6:
Bridge.
London society during the last season took up a new game, which is called
bridge. It has certainly been a great rage, and was a source of amusement to a
great many during the long winter evenings, between 6 and 7. It is a species
of whist, and is played by four people, but one hand is laid on the table for
every one to see, so it can quite easily be played by three, and it is
pronounced better than dummy whist. The game is called bridge because, owing to
certain rules and complications which occur in the game, it is possible to
"bridge" or pass over when it is one's turn to play. It is a great gambling game,
and a great deal may be won or lost in one night, as the bets can be doubled
at will, and the points are generally high.
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2 February 1907, Oakland (CA) Tribune, pg. 7, col. 5:
ORIGIN OF BRIDGE.
(...)
The origin of bridge is somewhat shrouded in mystery. The game is said to
have originated in Russia, but there is no satisfactory proof of this
statement. It was first known under the title of "Biritch or Russian Whist," and this
no doubt gave rise to the idea that it was of Russian origin, although as a
matter of fact, the word "Biritch" is not to be found in any Russian
dictionary. In the late seventies it was played in Constantinople by the Russian
colony. In the sixties there was a game of whist played in Germany and Austria
called "Cayenne" and it is believed that bridge, as we play it, combines certain
features of cayenne or biritch--Town Talk.
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30 January 1977, Nevada Stat Journal (Reno, NV), pg. 31, col. 1:
Our learned friends laughed at this, saying that there was no such word as
biritch in the Russian language, as though that proved the case one way or the
other.
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The latest research indicates that the word biritch is chronicled in Russian
histories from the 10th through the 17th centuries. It meant, among other
things, the town crier whose official duty it was to announce government
edicts. It appears as "biritch" (accented on the second syllable) in dictionaries
of Imperial days.
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Apparently, the game of biritch had been played in Turkey and Egypt ever
since the early 1860's and was of Turkish or Russian origin.
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