Ace, Two, Three, Four, Kiss the Dealer

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Chrissy from Arlington, Virginia.

Hey, Chrissy, we’re glad to have you. What’s up?

I grew up playing a lot of cards, and the big favorite when the whole family got together was bridge.

And every once in a while, when we would play, a trick would be ace, two, three, and four.

And usually it’s in the same suit, but I don’t think that mattered.

And whenever this happened, my grandma, Val, she would just kind of chuckle to herself and say,

Ace, two, three, four, kiss the dealer. Or sometimes she would just simply say, kiss the dealer. It was funny. There was no follow on actions, no response required. She just simply said it. No one kissed anybody. Like it was just something that she would say.

And she’s such a special lady and she’s been such a special lady in my life. She passed away about three years ago at 105 years old. And I regret, I had plenty of opportunity to ask her, and I regret never asking her more about it. And I was hoping you guys would have some insight on that phrase.

I want to get to this saying, but I also want you to explain to those of us who don’t play bridge what a trick is when you play bridge.

Sure. A trick is basically every player, there’s four people in the game, you have a teammate who sits across from you, and every player contributes a single card from their hand into the center of the table. And that would be the trick.

And the highest ranking card, based on the rules, usually it’s the highest of the suit that was led. Or if you’ve identified a certain suit that’s higher than all the rest, the Trump suit, that one will win the trick.

If you win that trick, you take those four cards, you set them aside, and that’s going to help you win the game ultimately. You want to take as many tricks as possible.

Got you.

That’s a great explanation.

Okay. Well, you might be delighted to know that this expression goes back at least to the 1800s.

Well into the 1800s, there are variations in folklore from Kentucky and Cornwall, and not just in Bridge, but in Wist and other card games as well.

And some of the variations say that they have to be played in order, in order to kiss the dealer.

And some of them are very specific that you actually do need to kiss the dealer.

And some of them says that the person who takes the trick gets the kiss.

And some of them says that everyone gets a kiss, which sounds exciting to me.

So, you know, it can just be a chaste family kiss. It doesn’t have to be anything erotic or anything like that.

But really, I mean, you know, if you’re sitting there with a bunch of friends or family and there’s, you know, it’s just another kind of one of those like goofs that you do.

There’s all kinds of ritual and memories and in-jokes and stuff that comes up when you’re sitting around the table with a bunch of people that you know really well, right?

This can just be another part of that whole thing.

Oh, that’s wonderful.

Chrissy, you are a delight.

I really enjoyed speaking with you.

I love your show, and I share it with all my friends when I get an opportunity.

Oh, thank you so much.

All right.

Well, rock on, be well, and take care of yourself, all right?

You too.

Bye.

Thanks for calling.

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