Manish Gupta's Blog - Posts Tagged "interesting-etymology"

English Bites! My 'Fullproof' English Learning Formula

ABOVEBOARD means open, fair or honest (The little puppy finally admitted that the reason she was so sad was because her brutally aboveboard boyfriend dumped her by saying, "You are not longer as cute and spunky as you were when I met you first."

Did you know that this word has an interesting etymology and comes from the games of cards? Let's see how:

"Cards or tiles have been used in divination for many centuries, but their use for recreation and as an indoor game was developed sometime in the thirteenth century. What is not as certain, however, is the length of time it took after cards became gambling material, for the first gambler to engage in trickery, such as changing cards, below the table.

By the late sixteenth century, card-sharping was so prevalent that French sailors began to insist that all cards be held above the level of the table to allow for easier detection of cheating during a game.

From this practice of keeping the cards ‘above the board,’ the word aboveboard came into being!"