Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Cards

Definition: Cards

Cards

Noun

1. A game played with playing cards.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "cards" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1350. (references)

 

Specialty Definition: Cards

DomainDefinition

Computing

CARDS Central Archive for Reusable Defense Software of the DoD. Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing.

Dream Interpretation

If playing them in your dreams with others for social pastime, you will meet with fair realization of hopes that have long buoyed you up. Small ills will vanish. But playing for stakes will involve you in difficulties of a serious nature.
If you lose at cards you will encounter enemies. If you win you will justify yourself in the eyes of the law, but will have trouble in so doing.
If a young woman dreams that her sweetheart is playing at cards, she will have cause to question his good intentions.
In social games, seeing diamonds indicate wealth; clubs, that your partner in life will be exacting, and that you may have trouble in explaining your absence at times; hearts denote fidelity and cosy surroundings; spades signify that you will be a widow and encumbered with a large estate. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted ....

Literature

Cards It is said that there never was a good hand of cards containing four clubs. Such a hand is called "The Devil's Four-poster."
Lieuben, a German lunatic, bet that he would succeed in turning up a pack of cards in a certain order stated in a written agreement. He turned and turned the cards ten hours a day for twenty years, and repeated the operation 4,246,028 times, when at last he succeeded.
In Spain, spades used to be columbines; clubs, rabbits; diamonds, pinks; and hearts, roses. The present name for spades is espados (swords); of clubs, bastos (cudgels); of diamonds, dineros (square pieces of money used for paying wages), of hearts, copas (chalices).
The French for spades is pique (pikemen or soldiers); for clubs, trèfle (clover, or husbandmen); of diamonds, carreaux (building tiles, or artisans); of hearts, choeur (choir-men, or ecclesiasties)
The English spades is the French form of a pike, and the Spanish name; the clubs is the French trefoil, and the Spanish name; the hearts is a corruption of choeur into coeur. (See Vierge.)
Court cards. So called because of their heraldic devices. The king of clubs originally represented the arms of the Pope; of spades, the King of France; of diamonds, the King of Spain; and of hearts, the King of England. The French kings in cards are called David (spades), Alexander (clubs), Caesar (diamonds), and Charles (hearts)- representing the Jewish, Greek, Roman, and Frankish empires. The queens or dames are Argine- i.e. Juno (hearts), Judith (clubs), Rachel (diamonds), and Pallas (spades) - representing royalty, fortitude, piety, and wisdom. They were likenesses of Marie d'Anjou, the queen of Charles VII., Isabeau, the queen-mother; Agnes Sorel, the king's mistress, and Joan d'Arc, the dame of spades, or war.
He felt that he held the cards in his own hands. That he had the whip-end of the stick; that he had the upper hand, and could do as he liked. The allusion is to games played with cards, such as whist.
He played his cards well. He acted judiciously and skilfully, like a whistplayer who plays his hand with judgment. To play one's cards badly is to manage a project unskilfully.
The cards are in my hands. I hold the disposal of events which will secure success. The allusion is obvious.
"The Vitelli busied at Arezzo; the Orsini irritating the French; the war of Naples imminent;- the cards are in my hands."- Caesar Borgia, xxix.
On the cards. Likely to happen, projected, and talked about as likely to occur. On the programme or card of the races; on the "agenda."
To count on one's cards. To anticipate success under the circumstances. The allusion is to holding in one's hand cards likely to win.
To go in with good cards. To have good patronage; to have excellent grounds for expecting success.
To throw up the cards. To give up as a bad job; to acknowledge you have no hope of success. In some games of cards, as loo, a player has the liberty of saying whether he will play or not, and if one's hand is hopelessly bad he throws up his cards and sits out till the next deal. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Specialty Definition: Anglo-American playing card

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

A standard Anglo-American deck of playing cards is composed of 13 ranks in each of 4 suits, plus 2 jokers, for a total of 54 cards. The suits used are the French suits of spades (♠) and clubs (♣), which are black, and diamonds (♦) and hearts (♥), which are red (four-color decks can occasionally be found, but they are rare). In each suit there are 10 spot cards, each of which is identified by the number of suit symbols (pips) it shows, and three court cards (also called "face cards") of the Rouen design that carry highly stylized depictions of persons.

Modern playing cards carry index labels on opposite corners (sometimes all four corners) to facilitate identifying the cards when they overlap. The 1-spot card of each suit is called an ace, and in many games is given the highest rank. It carries the index label "A". The next highest rank in most games is the court card called the king, followed by the other court cards, the queen and jack (also called "knave"). They carry index labels of "K", "Q", and "J", respectively. Finally, the remaining spot cards ranking numerically from 10 (highest) to 2 (lowest). Their index labels are simple numerals. The 2-spot card is often called a deuce, and the 3-spot a trey.

When giving the full written name of a specific card, the rank is given first followed by the suit, e.g., "Ace of Spades". However, standard shorthand notation lists the suit first, e.g., "♠A".

There is no standard ranking among the four suits, though many games do specify such a ranking. For example, the game of bridge ranks the spade suit highest, followed by hearts, diamonds, and clubs.

One of the two jokerss is often more colorful or more intricately detailed than the other, but this feature is not used in most common card games. The design of jokers is not standard, and many manufacturers use them to carry trademark designs. In many card games the jokers are not used.

It is also common practice now for the Ace of spades to bear special markings that include the manufacturer's name and date of production. This practice began under the reign of James I, who passed a law requiring an insignia on that card as proof of payment of a tax on local manufacture of cards.

Until August 4, 1960, decks of playing cards printed and sold in the United Kingdom were liable for taxable duty and the Ace of Spades carried an indication of the name of the printer and the fact that taxation had been paid on the cards. The packs were also sealed with a government duty wrapper.

500, and some other games, require extended standard decks with extra spot cards (in the case of 500, 11's, 12's, and red 13's).

See also:

External Links

Top     


Card

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The term card has many different meanings. These include:

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Card."

Top     


Card game

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

A card game is any game using playing cards, either traditional or specialized. A participant in such a game is a card player.

Other games using cards include trading card games and combination games which use cards in addition to other playing equipment.

Trick-taking games

Matching games

These are also referred to as the Rummy family.

Gambling games

Solitaire or Patience games

(see a guide to solitaire terminology)

Shedding games

These are also referred to as the Stops family.

Accumulating games

Games with special decks

Cooperative games

Inductive games

Multi-genre games

Trading card games

See also: Board game

External links

Top     


Cigarette card

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Cigarette Cards were issued by tobacco manufacturers both to protect the cigarettes by stiffening the pack, and also to gain customer loyalty to their particular brand of cigarettes. The cards depicting actresses, baseball players, Indian chiefs, and boxers issued in 1875 by Allen & Ginter cigarette brands, Richmond Straight Cut No. 1 and Pet are considered the first modern promotion scheme for any manufactured product as well as one of the first collectibles.

Most other tobacco companies followed suit. Some very early cigarette cards were printed on silk which was then attached to a paper backing. Each set of cards typically consisted of 25 or 50 related subjects, for example famous football players, Boy Scouts or British butterflies. They were discontinued in order to save paper during World War II, and never fully reintroduced thereafter.

The most famous single cigarette card came from American Tobacco Company's Sweet Caporal cigarettes and showed baseball player Honus Wagner, Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop (now a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame). Wagner objected to publication of the card, either because he did not want to promote cigarette smoking by children or because he was not being paid, or both. At any rate, the card was withdrawn and at most a few dozen remain in existence. Its value is in the range of $200,000 to $600,000. Recently a different Wagner cigar card, made when he was a minor-leaguer with the Louisville, Kentucky Colonels has surfaced. Only one of these is known to exist.

Perhaps the most famous, and sought-after, set of cards is the untitled series of cards issued by Taddy and known by collectors as "Clowns and Circus Artistes". While not the rarest cards in existence (there are a number of series in which only one known example remains), they are still very rare and command high prices whenver they come up for auction.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Cigarette card."

Top     


Playing card

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)


Some typical modern playing cards

A playing card is a typically hand-sized rectangular piece of heavy paper or thin plastic used for playing card games. Playing cards are often used as props in magic tricks, as well as occult practices such as cartomancy, and a number of card games involve (or can be used to support) gambling. As a result, their use sometimes meets with disapproval from some orthodox religious groups. They are also a popular collectible (as distinct from the cards made specifically for trading card games). Specialty and novelty decks are commonly produced for collectors, often with political, cultural, or educational themes.


Shuffling a pack of cards

One side of each card (the "front" or "face") carries markings that distinguish it from the others and determine its use under the rules of the particular game being played, while the other side (the "back") is identical for all cards, usually a plain color or abstract design. In most games, the cards are assembled into a "deck" (or "pack"), and their order is randomized by a procedure called "shuffling" to provide an element of chance in the game.

Early History

The origin of playing cards is obscure, but it is almost certain that they began in China after the invention of paper. Ancient Chinese "money cards" have four "suits": coins (or cash), strings of coins (which may have been misinterpreted as sticks from crude drawings), myriads of strings, and tens of myriads. These were represented by ideograms, with numerals of 2-9 in the first three suits and numerals 1-9 in the "tens of myriads". Wilkinson suggests in The Chinese origin of playing cards that the first cards may have been actual paper currency which were both the tools of gaming and the stakes being played for. The designs on modern Mah Jong tiles and dominoes likely evolved from those earliest playing cards. The Chinese word p'ai is used to describe both paper cards and gaming tiles.

The time and manner of the introduction of cards into Europe are matters of dispute. The 38th canon of the council of Worcester (1240) is often quoted as evidence of cards having been known in England in the middle of the 13th century; but the games de rege et regina there mentioned are now thought to more likely have been chess. If cards were generally known in Europe as early as 1278, it is very remarkable that Petrarch, in his dialogue that treats gaming, never once mentions them. Boccaccio, Chaucer and other writers of that time specifically refer to various games, but there is not a single passage in their works that can be fairly construed to refer to cards. Passages have been quoted from various works, of or relative to this period, but modern research leads to the supposition that the word rendered cards has often been mistranslated or interpolated.

It is likely that the ancestors of modern cards arrived in Europe from the Mamelukes of Egypt in the late 1300s, by which time they had already assumed a form very close to those in use today. In particular, the Mameluke deck contained 52 cards comprising four "suits": polo sticks, coins, swords, and cups. Each suit contained ten "spot" cards (cards identified by the number of suit symbols or "pips" they show) and three "court" cards named malik (King), nā'ib malik (Viceroy or Deputy King), and thānī nā'ib (Second or Under-Deputy). The Mameluke court cards showed abstract designs not depicting persons (at least not in any surviving specimens) though they did bear the names of miltary officers. A complete pack of Mameluke playing cards was discovered by L.A. Mayer in the Topkapi Sarayi Museum, Istanbul, in 1939; this particular complete pack was not made before 1400, but the complete deck allowed matching to a private fragment dated to the twelfth or thirteenth century. There is some evidence to suggest that this deck may have evolved from an earlier 48-card deck that had only two court cards per suit, and some further evidence to suggest that earlier Chinese cards brought to Europe may have travelled to Persia, which then influenced the Mameluke and other Egyptian cards of the time before their reappearance in Europe. It is not known whether these cards influenced the design of the Indian cards used for the game of Ganjifa, or whether the Indian cards may have influenced these, but the Indian cards have many distinctive elements, such being round, being generally had painted with intricate designs, and comprising more than four suits (often as many as twelve).

European Spread and Early Design Changes

In the late 1300s, the use of playing cards spread rapidly across Europe. The first widely-accepted references to cards are in 1371 in Spain, in 1377 in Switzerland, and in 1380 they are referenced in many locations including Florence, Paris, and Barcelona. A Paris ordinance dated 1369 does not mention cards; its 1377 update includes cards. In the account-books of Johanna, duchess of Brabant, and her husband, Wenceslaus of Luxemburg, there is an entry under date of the May 14, 1379 as follows: "Given to Monsieur and Madame four peters, two forms, value eight and a half moutons, wherewith to buy a pack of cards". An early mention of a distinct series of playing cards is the entry of Charles or Charbot Poupart, treasurer of the household of Charles VI of France, in his book of accounts for 1392 or 1393, which records payment for the painting of three sets or packs of cards, which were evidently already well known.

It is clear that the earliest cards were executed by hand, like those designed for Charles VI. However, this was quite expensive, so other means were needed to mass-produce them. It may be that the art of wood engraving, which led to that of printing, may have been developed through the demand for the multiplication of implements of play. The belief that the early card makers or cardpainters of Ulm, Nuremberg and Augsburg, from about 1418 to 1450, were also wood engravers, is founded on the assumption that the cards of that period were printed from wood blocks. Many of the earliest woodcuts were colored by means of a stencil, so it would seem that at the time wood engraving was first introduced, the art of depicting and coloring figures by means of stencil plates was well known. There are no playing cards engraved on wood to which so early a date as 1423 (that of the earliest dated wood engraving generally accepted) can be fairly assigned; and as at this period there were professional card makers established in Germany, it is probable that wood engraving was employed to produce cuts for sacred subjects before it was applied to cards, and that there were hand-painted and stencilled cards before there were wood engravings of saints. The German Brief maler or card-painter probably progressed into the wood engraver; but there is no proof that the earliest wood engravers were the card-makers.

The Europeans experimented with the structure of playing cards, particularly in the 1400s. Europeans changed the court cards to represent European royalty and attendants, originally "king", "chevalier", and "knave" (or "servant"). Queens were introduced in a number of different ways. In an early surviving German pack (dated in the 1440s), Queens replace Kings in two of the suits as the highest card. Throughout the 1400s, 56-card decks were common containing a King, Queen, Knight, and Valet. Suits also varied; many makers saw no need to have a standard set of names for the suits, so early decks often had different suit names (though typically 4 suits).

The cards manufactured by German printers used the suits of hearts, bells, leaves, and acorns still present in German decks today used for Skat and other games. Later Italian and Spanish cards of the 15th century used swords, batons, cups, and coins. It is likely that the Tarot deck was invented in Italy at that time, though it is often mistakenly believed to have been imported into Europe by Gypsies. While originally (and still in some places) used for the game of Tarocchi, the Tarot deck today is more often used for cartomancy and other occult practices. This probably came about in the 1780s, when occult philosophers mistakenly associated the symbols on Tarot cards with Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The four suits (hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs) now used in most of the world originated in France, approximately in 1480. The trèfle, so named for its resemblance to the trefoil leaf, was probably copied from the acorn; the pique similarly from the leaf of the German suits, while its name derived from the sword of the Italian suits. It is not derived from its resemblance to a pike head, as commonly supposed. In England the French suits were used, and are named hearts, clubs (corresponding to trèfle, the French symbol being joined to the Italian name, bastoni), spades (corresponding to the French pique, but having the Italian name, spade=sword) and diamonds. This confusion of names and symbols is accounted for by Chatto thus:

"If cards were actually known in Italy and Spain in the latter part of the 14th century, it is not unlikely that the game was introduced into this country by some of the English soldiers who had served under Hawkwood and other free captains in the wars of Italy and Spain. However this may be, it seems certain that the earliest cards commonly used in this country were of the same kind, with respect to the marks of the suits, as those used in Italy and Spain."
Court cards have likewise undergone some changes in design and name. Early court cards were elaborate full-length figures; the French in particular often gave them the names of particular heroes and heroines from history and fable. A prolific manufacturing center in the 1500s was Rouen, which originated many of the basic design elements of court cards still present in modern decks. It is likely that the Rouennais cards were popular imports in England, establishing their design as standard there, though other designs became more popular in Europe (particularly in France, where the Parisian design became standard).

Rouen courts are traditionally named as follows: the kings of spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs are David, Alexander, (Julius) Caesar, and Charles (Charlemagne), respectively. The knaves (or "jacks"; French "valet") are Hector (prince of Troy), La Hire (comrade-in-arms to Joan of Arc), Ogier (a knight of Charlemagne), and Judas Maccabee (who led the Jewish rebellion against the Syrians). The queens are Pallas (warrior goddess; equivalent to the Greek Athena or Roman minerva), Rachel (biblical mother of Joseph), Argine (the origin of which is obscure), and Judith (of the Apocrypha). Parisian tradition uses the same names, but assigns them to different suits: the kings of spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs are are David, Charles, Caesar, and Alexander; the queens are Pallas, Judith, Rachel, and Argine; the knaves are Ogier, Le Hire, Hector, and Judas Maccabee. Oddly, the Parisian names have become more common in modern use, even with cards of Rouennais design.

Later Changes

In early games the kings were always the highest card in their suit. However, as early as the late 1400s special significance began to be placed on the nominally lowest card, now called the Ace, so that it sometimes became the highest card. This concept may have been hastened in the late 1700s by the French Revolution, where games began being played "ace high" as a symbol of lower classes raising in power above the royalty. The term "Ace" itself comes from a dicing term in Anglo-Normal French, which is itself derived from the Latin as (the smallest unit of coinage). Another dicing term, trey (3), sometimes shows up in playing card games.

Corner and edge indices appeared in the mid-1800s, which enabled people to hold their cards close together in a fan with one hand (instead of the two hands previously used). Before this time, the lowest court card in English cards was officially termed the Knave, but its abbreviation ("Kn") was too similar to the King ("K"). However, from the 1600s on the Knave had often been termed the Jack, a term borrowed from the game All Fours where the Knave of trumps is termed the Jack. All Fours was considered a low-class game, so the use of the term Jack at one time was considered vulgar. The use of indices changed the formal name of the lowest court card to Jack.

This was followed by the innovation of reversible court cards. Reversible court cards meant that players would not be tempted to make upside-down court cards right side up. Before this, other players could often get a hint of what other player's hands contained by watching them reverse their cards. This innovation required abandoning some of the design elements of the earlier full-length courts.

The Joker was an American innovation. Created for the Alsatian game of Euchre, it then spread to Europe from America along with the spread of Poker. Although the Joker card often bears the image of a fool, which is one of the images of the Tarot deck, it is not believed that there is any relation.

Card Game Rules and Hoyle

Most card games simply do not have universally accepted official rules (Contract bridge being one of a few notable exceptions). Instead, there are many rule books that attempt to capture rules (and common variations) as practiced by at least some people they have interviewed. When moving from one group to another, the rules will often change, so it is wise for any group to be sure they understand the rules they'll use before beginning.

In the 1740s Edmond Hoyle determined that, since so many people were interested in learning to play the card game Whist well, he would become a professional Whist tutor. Along with personal instruction, he also wrote down his basic approaches to playing Whist well in a small book which his clients could buy. The book was popular but unaffordable to many, so many illegal or questionable copies were made. In November 1742 Hoyle copyrighted the work, and made the work more widely available; copies of the book were extremely popular. Hoyle never actually wrote down the rules of Whist; he presumed that his reader already knew the basic rules, and his work was focused on teaching how to play it well. Observing his own success, Hoyle immediately wrote books on other subjects (Backgammon, Piquet, Chess, and Brag). Hoyle died on August 29, 1769.

Hoyle's works began the idea of selling popular game books. Many of these books contain the word "Hoyle" (just as many dictionaries contain the word "Webster"), but Hoyle would not recognize most of the games described in today's books. In particular, having the world "Hoyle" in a title does not give a book any greater authority, since anyone can write a book with Hoyle's name in the title.

Playing Cards Today

The primary playing cards in use today, called Anglo-American playing cards, includes the English suits, reversible Rouennais court cards, and usually two Jokers (often distinguishable, with one being more colorful than the other). The fanciful design and manufacturer's logo often displayed on the ace of spades began under the reign of James I of England, who passed a law requiring an insignia on that card as proof of payment of a tax on local manufacture of cards.

Though specific design elements of the court cards are rarely used in game play, a few are notable: the jack of spades and jack of hearts are drawn in profile, while the rest of the courts are shown in full face, leading to the former being called the "one-eyed" jacks. The king of hearts is shown with a broadsword behind his head, leading to the name "suicide king".

Reference

External Links

Top     

Abbreviations & Acronyms: Cards

The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted.
EntrySourceExpressionField

CARDS

EnglishCard Automated Reproduction Demand SystemComputing, Information

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Top     

Synonym: Cards

Synonym: card game (n). (additional references)

Top     

Crosswords: Cards

English words defined with "cards": deck of cards ♦ house of cards ♦ pack of cards ♦ To cut the cards, To have the cards in one's own hands, To stock cards. (references)
Specialty definitions using "cards": Batten cards, body-punched aspect cards, body-punched feature cards, buff tabulating cards ♦ coincidence hole cards, coloured tabulating cards ♦ Hand of Cards ♦ lacing-machine operator, jacquard cards, load cards ♦ Mogul Cards ♦ peek-a-boo cards, peep-hole cards ♦ set of cards. (references)
Etymologies containing "cards": Tenace. (references)
Non-English Usage: "Cards" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses.

Dutch (cards).

Top     

Modern Usage: Cards

DomainUsage

Screenplays

Trust everybody, but cut the cards. (Rounders; writing credit: David Levien and Brian Koppelman.)

Is it worth risking your life over ten dollars, two credit cards, a hairbrush, and a lipstick (Superman; writing credit: Jerry Siegel; Joe Shuster)

Here, let me give you one of my cards. Now if you should want to call me, use this number (Harvey; writing credit: Mary Chase;)

Aren't you going to look at your cards first (The Odd Couple; writing credit: Neil Simon)

We're counting cards. (Rain Man; writing credit: Ronald Bass)

Lyrics

And what life would do to him, all the cards that was hard (Deception; performing artist: Blackalicious)

Help me lay my cards out on the table (Lay Your Hands On Me; performing artist: Bon Jovi)

Cause hell's broke loose in Georgia and the devil deals the cards ("The Devil Went Down to Georgia"; performing artist: Charlie Daniels Band)

Oh, the reflex what a game he's hiding all the cards (The Reflex; performing artist: Duran Duran)

Getting cards and letters from people I don't even know (Rhinestone Cowboy; performing artist: Glen Campbell; writing credit: Larry Weiss)

Clever

T-shirt: My heart belongs to Daddy...and so do my credit cards! (references; author: unknown)

There are two credit cards for every person in the United States. (references; author: unknown)

Old folks say, "when I'm finally holding all the cards, why does everyone decide to play chess. (references; author: unknown)

Movie/TV Titles

House of Cards (1968)

Pay Cards! (1968)

Stacked Cards (1926)

Cards and Cupid (1920)

Animated Cards (1919)

Song Titles

Game of Cards, The (performing artist: Prior/Tabor)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Commercial Usage: Cards

DomainTitle

References

  • All Cards Service Center - ACSC - AB: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

  • Clinton Cards PLC: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

  • The 2000-2005 Outlook for Greeting Cards in Asia (reference)

  • The 2003-2008 World Outlook for Greeting Cards (reference)

  • The World Market for Letter Cards, Plain Postcards, and Correspondence Cards Made of Paper or Paperboard: A 2004 Global Trade Perspective (reference)

    (more reference examples)

  

Books

  

Periodicals

  

Theater & Movies

  • Digital Photography Made Easy :Learn the Secrets of Digital Photography; Email Photos, Print Quality Photos, Make Photo T-Shirts & Coffee Mugs, Make Photo Greeting Cards & Invitations, Save & Store Photos on CD, Learn to use a Scanner & Much More! (reference)

  • Yu-Gi-Oh - Heart of the Cards (reference)

    (more DVD examples; more video examples)

  

Music

  

High Tech

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Image Slideshow: Cards

Photos:
Cards

More pictures...

Illustrations:
Cards

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Cards

More pictures...

Top     

Photo Album: Cards

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

U.S. American National Red Cross Hospital No. 101, Paris, France. : Doctor and nurse watch convalescent patients playing cards. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

[Men playing cards in a recreation (?) room]. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

"Evening Amusements": crewmembers playing cards and reading in their berthing spaces, circa 1895-1898. Halftone photograph, copied from the contemporary publication Uncle Sam's Navy, 1898. Credit: NAVY.

At anchor prior to her World War I Navy service. One of nine 62'4" boats built by Herreshoff, of Bristol, Rhode Island, specifically for Naval service, and known initially as Herreshoff Hull 316, this craft was taken over by the Navy and placed in commission on 18 September 1917 as USS Kangaroo (SP-1284). She was transferred to the Treasury Department on 22 November 1919. This photograph, in which the name "Kangaroo" is faintly visible on the boat's pilothouse, was also used on the contemporary "SP" record cards of two sisters: Daiquiri (SP-1285) and War Bug (SP-1795). Credit: NAVY.

The election game / turning the cards. Credit: Library of Congress.

While you are handing out cards, Miss Schoolteacher, remember I've got one for you. Credit: Library of Congress.

Man with suitcases and man leaning on counter gesturing toward group of men playing cards. Credit: Library of Congress.

U.S. soldiers playing cards on Pullman car] / p. Credit: Library of Congress; photo by Pullman Company..

Assortment of credit cards, mostly from restaurants and hotels. Credit: Library of Congress.

Petersburg, Va. Officers of the 114th Pennsylvania Infantry playing cards in front of tents. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Top     

Digital Photo Gallery: Cards
 

"Pack of cards" by Christian Simon
Commentary: "Some cards to play."		"Vga cards... 4" by Balázs Kovács
Commentary: "Some new VGA cards..."

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

Top     

Sounds Captioned with "Cards".

PlayCaption
Shuffling playing cards.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Familiar Quotations: Cards

AuthorQuotation

Arthur Schopenhauer

It's the niceties that make the difference fate gives us the hand, and we play the cards.
Because people have no thoughts to deal in, they deal cards, and try and win one another's money. Idiots!

Charles Lamb

Cards are war, in disguise of a sport.

David Garrick

Cards were at first for benefits designed, sent to amuse, not to enslave the mind.

Francis Quarles

Has fortune dealt you some bad cards. Then let wisdom make you a good gamester.

Henry Ward Beecher

Gambling with cards or dice or stocks is all one thing. It's getting money without giving an equivalent for it.

Jonathan Swift

I must complain the cards are ill shuffled till I have a good hand.

Josh Billings

Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.

Miguel De Cervantes

Patience and shuffle the cards.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Use in Literature: Cards

TitleAuthorQuote

Emma

Austen, Jane

But sometimes of an evening, before we went to cards, he would read something aloud out of the Elegant Extracts, very entertaining

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

The other travellers were drinking or playing cards, and paid no attention to anything

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Non-Fiction Usage: Cards

SubjectTopicQuote

Health

This is about the size of the palm of your hand or a deck of cards. (references)

One important way to learn about hospital quality is to look at hospital report cards developed by States and consumer groups. (references)

The back packet of this brochure contains cards with information on some of the many stroke clinical trials the NINDS supports or has completed. (references)

Business

There are 21,000 of these cards in circulation. (references)

These cards are new products to the Ukrainian market. (references)

Mobikom offers prepaid telephone cards for public phones. (references)

Children

Iraq

Families reportedly were threatened with the loss of their food ration cards if they refused to enroll their children in the course. (references)

Civil Liberties

Rwanda

These new cards are issued routinely. (references)

Mauritania

In some regions, persons lacking identity cards could not travel freely. (references)

Economic History

Argentina

However, use of credit cards is widespread. (references)

Hong Kong

English-Chinese business cards are also helpful. (references)

Norway

Sospita produces software security tokens and smart cards. (references)

Human Rights

Ethiopia

After registration applicants received identity cards and residence permits valid for 6 months. (references)

Indonesia

At least some individuals who had E.T. stamped on their identity cards were able to have the stamp removed. (references)

Georgia

The committee has distributed approximately 30,000 printed cards to students, NGO's, and visitors to the committee. (references)

Indigenous People

Sri Lanka

Under a pilot program, Veddas received special identity cards to enable their use of these forest areas. (references)

Cameroon

An estimated 95 percent of Pygmies did not have national identity cards; most Pygmies can not afford or provide the necessary documentation to obtain the identification, which is required to vote in national elections. (references)

Minorities

Sri Lanka

Without national identity cards, they also are vulnerable to arrest by the security forces. (references)

Political Economy

GREECE

Those issued green cards have the same labor and social security rights as Greek workers. (references)

Mauritania

The introduction of hard-to-falsify voter identification cards and published, revised voter lists led to elections considered generally fair and transparent. (references)

Political Rights

Mauritania

The unused cards are discarded on the floor. (references)

Trade

Bulgaria

Checks and credit cards are used mainly by foreigners. (references)

Japan

In FY 1999, Japanese consumers held over 226 million credit cards. (references)

Japan

Bank and other credit cards are easy to obtain and are widely accepted. (references)

Travel

Chad

Hotels sell post cards and stamps. (references)

Taiwan

Cards can be purchased from convenience stores. (references)

Argentina

Be sure to have an ample supply of business cards. (references)

Women

Saudi Arabia

In addition the identity cards were not made mandatory for women, although some women applied for and obtained the cards. (references)

Saudi Arabia

In 1999 the Ministry of Interior announced that preparations were underway to issue identity cards to women, which would represent a step toward allowing women to establish independent legal identities from men. (references)

Worker Rights

Gambia

Employee labor cards, which include a person's age, are registered with the Labor Commissioner, but enforcement inspections rarely take place. (references)

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

SAINT, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. The Duchess of Orleans relates that the irreverent old calumniator, Marshal Villeroi, who in his youth had known St. Francis de Sales, said, on hearing him called saint: "I am delighted to hear that Monsieur de Sales is a saint. He was fond of saying indelicate things, and used to cheat at cards. In other respects he was a perfect gentleman, though a fool."

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Top     

Spoken Usage: Cards

SpeakerPhrase(s)

Dick Van Dyke

I don't cuss, and I don't play cards. So I had to learn on to swear, and I had to learn to play cards. I had to learn to shuffle and deal.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Speeches: Cards

SpeakerTermPhrase(s)

Bill Clinton

1993-2001Every school district should issue report cards on every school.

George W. Bush

2001-2005Annual report cards are required to grade the schools themselves, so parents can judge how the schools compare to others.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Usage Frequency: Cards

"Cards" is generally used as a noun (plural) -- approximately 99.97% of the time. "Cards" is used about 3,890 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words		Rank in English
Noun (plural)99.97%3,8892,515
Noun (proper)0.03%1339,140
                    Total100.00%3,890N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

Top     

Usage in Company Names: Cards

CountryNameCountryName
Sweden

All Cards Service Center - ACSC - AB

United Kingdom

Clinton Cards PLC

 (more examples...)  

Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.

Top     

Expressions: Cards

Expressions using "cards": a game at cards ♦ Batten cards ♦ buff tabulating cards ♦ cards bank ♦ cards player ♦ cards to play ♦ cheat at cards ♦ cheating at cards ♦ coincidence hole cards ♦ collapse like a house of cards ♦ coloured tabulating cards ♦ deck of cards ♦ game of cards ♦ get one's cards ♦ house of cards ♦ in the cards ♦ Inner Child Cards ♦ Interjection: patience! and shuffle the cards ♦ it's on the cards ♦ lead at cards ♦ load cards ♦ marginal punched cards ♦ Medicine Cards ♦ notched cards ♦ on the cards ♦ pack of cards ♦ paper for punched cards ♦ play cards ♦ play cards close to one's chest ♦ play with the cards on the table ♦ playing cards ♦ punch cards ♦ punched cards ♦ put one's cards on the table ♦ reshuffle the cards ♦ set of cards ♦ show one's cards ♦ shuffle of cards ♦ shuffle the cards ♦ slotted cards ♦ stack the cards ♦ stack the cards against smb. ♦ straight in cards ♦ To cut the cards ♦ To have the cards in one's own hands ♦ To make the cards ♦ To play one's cards ♦ To play one's cards well ♦ To play snow one's cards ♦ To stock cards ♦ unluckily in cards lucky i ♦ win at cards. Additional references.

Hypenated Usage

Ending with "cards": cigarette-cards, playing-cards, trump-cards, wild-cards, work-cards.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Cards

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day		ExpressionFrequency
per Day

greeting cards.com

612

cards.com gi god oh yu

8

yu gi oh cards.com

529

poke mon cards.com

4

e cards.com

414

cards.com egyptian gi god oh yu

3

hallmark cards.com

97

cards.com kritter

2

blue mountain cards.com

44

cards.net tactile

2

cards.org hu

29

alternative bible cards,pastoral chaplain christ church,catholic,baptism,marriage church,online church,priest,missionary,reverend,evangelism,evangelical clergy,preacher,bishop,religious credentials denominational denominational,interfaith ecclesiastical e

2

cards.com gi ho yu

27

cards.com egreeting

2

hallmark greeting cards.com

16

cards.com cuddle

2

cards.com e hallmark

16

alternative bible cards,pastoral chaplain christ church,catholic,baptism,marriage church,online church,priest,missionary,reverend,evangelism,evangelical clergy,preacher,bishop,religious credentials denominational denominational,interfaith,bishop ecclesias

2

blue cards.com greeting mountain

16

cards.com eid

2

kinky cards.com

15

cards.com tactile

2

cards.com free scratch

12

alternative benny bible bob branham cards,pastoral chaplain christ church,catholic,baptism,marriage church,online church,priest,missionary,reverend,evangelism,evangelical clergy,preacher,bishop,religious copeland copeland credentials denominational denomi

2

cards.com dayspring

10

cards.com dayspring e

2

accept cards.com credit

8

cards.com entitlement

2

cards.com funnye

2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Modern Translation: Cards

Language Translations for "cards"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

lojë me letra (faro), letra (mail, postbag, squeezer). (various references)

   

Asturian

  

cartes. (various references)

   

Cebuano

  

baraha. (various references)

   

Chamorro

  

balaha. (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

牌 (game pieces, plate, signboard, tablet), 卡片 (Card). (various references)

   

Czech

  

zřítit se jako domeèek z karet (collapse like a house of cards), hrací karty (playing cards), hrát v karty (play cards). (various references)

   

Danish

  

stak (beard, card deck, card pack, deck, deck of cards, pack, pushdown storage, pushdown store, rick, set of cards, stack), sigthulkort (Batten card, Batten cards, body-punched aspect card, body-punched aspect cards, body-punched feature cards, coincidence hole card, coincidence hole cards, peek-a-boo card, peek-a-boo cards, peep-hole card, peep-hole cards), kortstak (card deck, card pack, deck, deck of cards, pack, set of cards), kortpakke (card deck, card pack, deck, deck of cards, pack, set of cards), kortdæk (card deck, card pack, deck, deck of cards, pack, set of cards), hulkortpapir (paper for punched cards, tabulating card paper), hulkortkarton (paper for punched cards, tabulating card paper), hulkort (card, punch card, punch cards, punched card, punched cards, tabulating card), denne deformation af kornene,der kan sammenlignes med forskydningen i et spil kort,ledsages af en rotation af slipplanerne henimod traekaksen (and is accompanied by a rotation of the slip planes in relation to the stress axis, this deformation is similar to that of a pack of cards), Arbejdsgruppe vedroerende afskaffelse af kontrollen med det groenne Forsikringskort (Working Party on the Abolition of Checks on Green Insurance Cards), afgift af spillekort (tax on playing cards). (various references)

   

Dutch

  

cards. (various references)

   

Faeroese

  

kort (card, map, menu). (various references)

   

Finnish

  

voittaa korttipelissä (win at cards), tirkistyskortti (Batten cards, body-punched aspect cards, body-punched feature cards, coincidence hole cards, peek-a-boo cards, peep-hole cards), sekoittaa kortit (shuffle the cards), reikäkorttikartonki (paper for punched cards, tabulating card paper), reikäkortti (punch card), pelivoitto (winnings at cards), pelata korttia (play cards), peek-a-boo-kortti (Batten cards, body-punched aspect cards, body-punched feature cards, coincidence hole cards, peek-a-boo cards, peep-hole cards), korttipakka (deck, pack of cards). (various references)

   

French

  

cartes. (various references)

   

Frisian

  

kaarten. (various references)

   

German

  

Karten (edge). (various references)

   

Greek