Old. Elderly. Senior. Why are we so uncomfortable when we talk about reaching a certain point in life? An 82-year-old seeks a more positive term to describe how she feels about her age. And: a linguist helps solve a famous kidnapping case, using the...
“A horse apiece”, meaning “six of one, half a dozen of the other,” comes from an old dice gambling game to describe a draw. This is part of a complete episode.
crying call n.— «Sometimes you face a big bet on the river and you think you’re beat. But you hope you’re not, so you call, only to find out that you indeed were beat. In poker parlance, it is known as a “crying call,” and while it might...
beautiful vault n.— «Slot machines are sometimes called “beautiful vaults” in the industry because they bring in nearly three-quarters of the roughly $60 billion in gambling revenue that American casinos generate.» —“Slot Machines...
stakehorse n.— «Hustling doesn’t merely involve the players at the table. There was a rogue’s gallery of “stakehorses” (financial backers), “sweaters on the rail” (side bettors) and “nits” (kibitzers). As the gambling spigot has been...
nit n.— «Hustling doesn’t merely involve the players at the table. There was a rogue’s gallery of “stakehorses” (financial backers), “sweaters on the rail” (side bettors) and “nits” (kibitzers). As the gambling spigot has been turned off...