[Ads-l] buck, n.9 (token in poker) -- quotations and definition in OED2

[Ben Zimmer]

On Thu, Jan 29, 2015 at 3:27 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
>
> Ben Zimmer found a great instance of "pass the buck" in 1856. A writer
> was part of a group that was crossing a body of water called the Buck
> Creek, and he mentioned the phrase as a pun while referencing the
> alternative interpretation in the poker domain.
>
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2005-April/048838.html
>
> Ben or anyone: Do you know if 1856 is still the earliest citation?

I haven't seen anything earlier. LOC's Chronicling America project has
been scanning some antebellum newspapers from the Kansas Territory,
but I haven't had any luck with those.

http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-territorial-newspapers/13875

(Note that issues of the Kansas Weekly Herald have been scanned from
1854 to 1855, but not yet the 1856 issue where the earliest cite
appears.)


> There seems to be some confusion about the purpose of "the buck" in
> poker, and it may have been used in more than one way. There was an
> interesting appearance of "passes the buck" in 1868 that explained how
> "the buck" was employed. Also, in 1868 the buck was "a knife or key"
> according to this citation.
>
> Year: 1868
> Title: The Modern Pocket Hoyle: Containing All the Games of Skill and
> Chance as Played in this Country at the Present Time
> Author: "Trumps"
> Publisher: Dick & Fitzgerald, New York
> Entry Title: Straight Poker
> Start Page 156, Quote Page 156 and 157
> Database: Google Books Full View
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=lmIVAAAAYAAJ&q=buck#v=snippet&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> To avoid confusion, and prevent misunderstanding, instead of each
> player depositing an ante before the cards are cut, it is usual for
> one of the players (at the commencement of the game, the dealer) to
> put up a sum equal to an ante from each, thus: if four are playing and
> the ante is one chip, the dealer puts up four chips, and passes the
> buck, i.e., a knife or key, to the next player at his left. When the
> next deal occurs, the player having the buck puts up four chips, and
> passes the buck to his next neighbor, who in turn does the same, and
> so it goes round as long as the game continues. Straight Poker is but
> seldom played, having been superseded by the Draw game.
> [End excerpt]

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org