Phrase: the long game (long-term strategy)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

I was asked on twitter recently about the origin of the phrase "the
long game". Another person on twitter pointed to an article on this
topic by Ben Yagoda. Here is an excerpt from the introduction of Ben's
article outlining the relevant sense of the phrase.

Website: The Chronicle of Higher Education
Blog: Lingua Franca
Article Title: Anatomy of a Catchphrase
Article Author: Ben Yagoda
Date: June 5, 2012

http://bit.ly/1uUFWNb

[Begin excerpt]
Alll of a sudden, it is impossible to pick up the paper or listen to
the news and escape "the long game." . . .

Where did this expression come from? Why is it so popular? The second
question is relatively easy to answer. It is a vivid metaphor for an
idea that frequently comes up in consideration of politics, business,
and other human endeavors: to wit, the possession and use of a
long-term strategy. (The very phrase "long-term," so flat and
overplayed, suggests the need for a replacement.)
[End excerpt]

The article presented some citations together with an intriguing
hypothesis connecting the phrase to variants of the card game whist.

I do not offer a theory. I just wanted to share an earlier citation
from 1840 containing "the long game" with the relevant sense.

Periodical: The Citizen: A Monthly Journal of  Politics, Literature and Art
Issue Date: August 1840:
Article Title: The Events of the Session
Start Page 149, Quote Page 150
Publisher: Machen and Commpany, Dublin, Ireland
Database: Google Books Full View

http://bit.ly/1uUDGW2

[Begin excerpt]
The aristocracy can afford to play the long game, for they have the
bank at their back. They can be content to weary out the tenantry in
detail; to break one man here and another there; to eject this man to
day, and the other man to-morrow.
[End excerpt]

Garson

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