[Ads-l] "corner, n.1", 13.b,, in whist, 1754; antedates OED2 1823-
Joel Berson
berson at ATT.NET
Wed May 18 23:55:58 UTC 2016
1754 The Connoisseur 3 Dec. (vol. 1, no. 45) 265 a game at Whist was played at White's for 1000 l. a corner
If such quotations are given author's credit in the OED, it should go to Mr. Town, Critic and Censor-General.
The meaning of "corner" is revealed to me via
(1) the quotation of a1825: "R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Corner, a point in a rubber at whist. We say we play sixpences or a shilling a corner, not sixpenny or shilling points."; and
(2), Wikipedia on scoring in whist: "After all tricks have been played, the side which won more tricks scores 1 point for each trick won in excess of 6."
Joel
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