"Cock"

[victor steinbok]

Sounds rather similar to the standard tennis metaphor.

VS-)

On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 7:26 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

>
> 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:
>
> >
> > 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
> > of 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
>

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