[Ads-l] Does "The buck stops here'' stop here?

[Andy Bach]

> For "euchre" read "poker." ("Ante, and pass the buck!" is used as a slang
phrase by Mark Twain in one of his earliest writings.)

Just read Mark Twain's Hawaii dispatches (also collected/expanded in
Roughing It) and in there he uses the phrase "euchre deck"

On Mon, Jun 17, 2024 at 12:21 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks to Fred for the warning concerning the reliability of the dates
> assigned to the 19th century American "Hoyle" books.
>
> Here is a citation with a solid 1874 date which describes a "buck" as
> "a knife or key, or other small article". This New Zealand newspaper
> article was clipped by Peter Reitan in January of this year.
>
> Date: July 9, 1874
> Newspaper: The Clutha Leader
> Newspaper Location: Clutha, Otago, New Zealand
> Article: Cards: Varieties of Poker
> Quote Page 4, Column 7
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-clutha-leader/139434983/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> To avoid confusion it is better at straight poker for the first dealer
> at the commencement to put up a sum equal to an ante from
> each--generally a knife or key, or other small article--which is
> redeemed at its nominal value when the play ceases. Thus, if four are
> playing and the ante is one chip, the "buck" (as it is called) would
> be valued at four chips. The dealer puts up four chips and passes the
> buck to the player on his left.
> [End excerpt]
>
> The theory that "buck" was derived from a knife with a buck-horn
> handle was tentatively proposed in a "Hoyle" book with an assigned
> date of 1887. Unfortunately, as Fred has noted, this date might be
> inaccurate; hence, other citations would be welcome.
>
> Date: Copyright 1887 (Warning: This date may be misleading)
> Book Title: The Standard Hoyle: A Complete Guide
> Section: Draw Poker
> Quote Page 127
> Publisher: Excelsior Publishing House, New York
>
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=3sgWAAAAYAAJ&q=+%22buck+horn%22#v=snippet&q=%22buck%20horn%22&f=false
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Originally the Buck was a pocket-knife passing always to the left,
> indicating only the deal. Perhaps from the handle of the knife being
> of buck-horn, the term is derived. By a process of evolution, the buck
> in Poker is made sometimes a representative of value, and can be put
> up by the Age. It may designate a certain number of chips, say, for
> instance, five. Then if the Age makes his blind good, he puts up five
> more chips. The rest of the players, when they come in, do the same
> thing. The person who wins it when he is the Age, puts up the buck.
> When the game is over, the person who has issued the buck redeems it,
> at the value he put on it.
> . . .
> A knife is not an obligatory buck. In the Far West, a revolver on the
> table sometimes serves the purpose of a buck.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Here is a citation with a solid 1926 date which mentions the buck-horn
> knife handle theory.
>
> Date: January 21, 1926
> Newspaper: Cleveland Plain Dealer
> Newspaper Location: Cleveland, Ohio
> Article: Philosopher of Folly
> Author:  Ted Robinson
> Quote Page 6, Column 3
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> The Philadelphia Evening Ledger tells us that "in the old pioneer days
> when bold men in wild places sat down to play euchre, a buckthorn
> knife lay before the dealer, and was passed on as the deal ran around
> the table. Hence 'passing the buck,' which presently in metaphoric
> form became 'the waiving of responsibility.'"
>
> Now what do you apprehend concerning that? In a British newspaper, I
> should have passed it with a smile, for the Britishest possible
> explanation of an American phrase. But why should an American paper
> consider it necessary to explain a phrase whose origin nine out of ten
> people must be thoroughly aware of? And how can an American paper make
> two mistakes in one explanation of such a phrase?
>
> For "euchre" read "poker." ("Ante, and pass the buck!" is used as a
> slang phrase by Mark Twain in one of his earliest writings.) And for
> "buckthorn" read "buck-horn." But perhaps that last is a typographical
> error.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>

-- 

a

Andy Bach,
afbach at gmail.com
608 658-1890 cell
608 261-5738 wk

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