Antedating of "Poker" (Card Game)

Mon Jan 3 11:52:08 UTC 2011

My "American Hoyle or Gentleman's Handbook of Games - All the Games Played
in the United States", 1864, Dick & Fitzgerald, New York, lists several
variations of Loo with game play, rules etc.
DAD

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>I think "lieu" might otherwise be spelled loo, or it is in all the
>Georgian and Regency romances I have read! It is a card game and
>players could make bets on the outcome (women who were poor bettors
>might be restricted to "silver loo" by their husbands.

Barbara

Barbara Need
Ithaca

On 1 Jan 2011, at 11:25 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:

> At 9:48 PM -0500 1/1/11, Shapiro, Fred wrote:
>> poker, n.4 (OED 1836)
>>
>> 1832 _The Globe_ (Washington, D.C.) 3 Sept. 2/5 (19th Century U.S.
>> Newspapers)  Who is notorious for his skill and dexterity at _Lieu_,
>> _poker_ and _Kentucky Brag?_ ... _Centre County (Pa.) Democrat._
>>
>> Fred Shapiro
>>
> Nice to know; and it looks like the readers would be expected to know
> what poker is, so it can probably be pushed back further.  Speaking
> of "Lieu", I don't know the eponymous card game, but I just heard a
> radio sports talk host refer to considering something "in lieu of"
> something else, where the intended meaning was clearly "in light of".
> Not exactly an eggcorn, more of a malapropism, and probably not
> unique to him--maybe the thought is that "lieu" is French for "light".

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