'Show Your Hand', other Card Idioms
2024-12-08
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1And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
2Playing cards is a popular pastime for people of all ages.
3Some games are easy, while others are complex.
4And people of all walks of life play cards.
5A set of playing cards is called a deck.
6A deck of cards is not costly and can be bought almost anywhere.
7With one deck of 52 cards, you can play many different games.
8Some of the games include poker, blackjack, bridge, rummy, 500, snap, hearts, and crazy eights ... just to name a few.
9The deck of cards also gives the English language many idioms.
10Today we will talk about a few of them.
11To win at many card games, you must keep your cards hidden from the other players.
12In many games, the cards you are dealt and play with are called your "hand."
13If your opponents know your hand, they can easily beat you.
14Some players keep their cards hidden by holding them to their chest.
15In life, you might need to keep some parts of a plan hidden or secret for them to succeed.
16You might need to keep your cards close to your chest.
17This idiom means to keep your plans, intentions or methods secret.
18However, with most card games, players must show their cards to the other players at some point, sometimes at the end of the game.
19This gives us two similar idioms - to show your hand and to lay your cards on the table.
20As an idiom, to show your hand or your cards means to tell people your plans or intentions that you had kept hidden.
21The same is true of laying your cards on the table.
22In many card games, the players must show their cards by placing them face up on the table for everyone to see.
23When we put our cards on the table, we show something that we have kept hidden.
24These can be things like our reasons for doing something, our intentions or our opinions.
25Now, in a game of cards, luck or chance plays an important part.
26You must play with the cards you are dealt.
27This is the case in life, too.
28Not everything is a choice.
29Sometimes we must deal with things that are out of our control.
30We must play with the cards we are dealt.
31We can also say play the hand we are dealt.
32So, luck is part of the game.
33We cannot know or predict the cards we are dealt.
34But sometimes other players cheat.
35They can do this by stacking the deck.
36When you stack the deck, you add cards to the deck that will help you win.
37This gives you an unfair advantage.
38In life, we can sometimes feel that things are stacked against us.
39This means that no matter how hard we try, we still struggle.
40We feel as though life has dealt us a bad hand, and we must struggle and fight to gain anything at all.
41For example, if the deck is stacked against you, the odds are not in your favor.
42You might have to struggle against all odds to succeed.
43These are just a few of the idioms English gets from a deck of cards.
44There are many more.
45But that's all the time we have today.
46Keep listening to Words and Their Stories to learn more!
47Until next time, I'm Anna Matteo.
1And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English. 2Playing cards is a popular pastime for people of all ages. Some games are easy, while others are complex. And people of all walks of life play cards. A set of playing cards is called a deck. A deck of cards is not costly and can be bought almost anywhere. 3With one deck of 52 cards, you can play many different games. Some of the games include poker, blackjack, bridge, rummy, 500, snap, hearts, and crazy eights ... just to name a few. 4The deck of cards also gives the English language many idioms. Today we will talk about a few of them. 5To win at many card games, you must keep your cards hidden from the other players. In many games, the cards you are dealt and play with are called your "hand." If your opponents know your hand, they can easily beat you. Some players keep their cards hidden by holding them to their chest. 6In life, you might need to keep some parts of a plan hidden or secret for them to succeed. You might need to keep your cards close to your chest. This idiom means to keep your plans, intentions or methods secret. 7However, with most card games, players must show their cards to the other players at some point, sometimes at the end of the game. 8This gives us two similar idioms - to show your hand and to lay your cards on the table. 9As an idiom, to show your hand or your cards means to tell people your plans or intentions that you had kept hidden. 10The same is true of laying your cards on the table. In many card games, the players must show their cards by placing them face up on the table for everyone to see. When we put our cards on the table, we show something that we have kept hidden. These can be things like our reasons for doing something, our intentions or our opinions. 11Now, in a game of cards, luck or chance plays an important part. You must play with the cards you are dealt. This is the case in life, too. Not everything is a choice. Sometimes we must deal with things that are out of our control. We must play with the cards we are dealt. We can also say play the hand we are dealt. 12So, luck is part of the game. We cannot know or predict the cards we are dealt. But sometimes other players cheat. They can do this by stacking the deck. When you stack the deck, you add cards to the deck that will help you win. This gives you an unfair advantage. 13In life, we can sometimes feel that things are stacked against us. This means that no matter how hard we try, we still struggle. We feel as though life has dealt us a bad hand, and we must struggle and fight to gain anything at all. 14For example, if the deck is stacked against you, the odds are not in your favor. You might have to struggle against all odds to succeed. 15These are just a few of the idioms English gets from a deck of cards. There are many more. 16But that's all the time we have today. Keep listening to Words and Their Stories to learn more! 17Until next time, I'm Anna Matteo. 18Anna Matteo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 19_____________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21pastime -n. an activity done for enjoyment in one's free time 22idiom -n. an expression in language that has a meaning different from the words' literal meaning 23intention -n. what someone means to do but which might not be clear from what they say or do 24stack -v. to place on thing on top of another 25advantage -n. a positive or good result that is gained from an action 26odds -n. (pl.) the likelihood that something will or will not happen 27favor -n. something that happens to help or support a person 28We want to hear from you. Do you have similar expressions in your language? In the Comments section, you can also practice using any of the expressions from the story. Our comment policy is here. Or send us an email at LearningEnglish@voanews.com.