"Cock"

[Jonathan Lighter]

For some inexplicable reason, "That's high, low, jack, and the game!" is
missing from HDAS, though I know I had a bunch of cites.

Eric's explanation is of course correct.  The phrase appears frequently in
19th C. sources, esp. out West, with nuances translatable as "That's all she
wrote" and "That spells another big win for me!"

JL

On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 5:08 AM, Eric Nielsen <ericbarnak at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Eric Nielsen <ericbarnak at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Cock"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The card game "Pitch" has such a points system: high, low, jack, and game
> are worth one point each to make your bid. The high, low, and jack must be
> of the trump suit. Game is calculated by adding up the "game point" cards
> o=
> f
> any suit.
>
> Eric
>
> On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 10:35 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > BTW, what's the deal with
> >
> > "=85 high, low, jack, and the game"
> >
> > I've read this phrase in literature and heard it in the media since
> > forever. There was once a singing group that called itself,
> >
> > "High, Low, Jack, and The Dame"
> >
> > an obvious pun.
> >
> > The phrase appears to be an obscure, IME, reference to an obscure,
> > IME, card game.
> >
> > Help a brother out, y'all.
> >
> > --
> > -Wilson
> > -----
> > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> > to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> >  -Mark Twain
> >
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> >
>
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