[Antrax]

This is sort of Bridge content but too frivolous for GBD I think.
So, I get the name throw-in, but people a lot more commonly use "endplay" - even when it's to say something like "looks like he's endplayed on opening lead" meaning each opening lead will be away from an honor, so it clearly has nothing to do with being near the end of the hand.

[mikeh]

 Antrax, on 2015-January-19, 23:26, said:

This is sort of Bridge content but too frivolous for GBD I think.
So, I get the name throw-in, but people a lot more commonly use "endplay" - even when it's to say something like "looks like he's endplayed on opening lead" meaning each opening lead will be away from an honor, so it clearly has nothing to do with being near the end of the hand.

My belief is that the use of the word endplay stems from the fact that most of these positions arise towards the end of the hand. Yes, we do talk about people being 'end played' earlier, but that is unusual, which indeed is why it is remarked upon: a position that would normally be expected to arise late in the play has arisen earlier.

It is a useful catchall term that encompasses a range of positions, which would otherwise need to be specified more precisely, and with more verbiage.

[aguahombre]

You stick it to em, right in the end.

[kuhchung]

Maybe in order to understand endplay, we have to look at the word itself. Basically, it's made up of two separate words — "endp" and "lay." What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is endplay.

[kenberg]

You may (anything is possible!) find Clyde Love's comments on page 84 of Bridge Squeezes Complete relevant. Love tells us that "Sharp distinction should be drawn between the terms "end play" and "endplay". He draws an analogy with the terms "wild cat" and "wildcat". In his view, "end play" refers to the last few tricks, whether or not an "endplay" is involved.

And yes, I once owned a somewhat wild cat but I have never owned a wildcat.

I trust we will all keep this thoroughly in mind as we discuss the game.

[PhantomSac]

Why is it called bridge?????

[mikeh]

 PhantomSac, on 2015-January-20, 22:54, said:

Why is it called bridge?????

Allegedly a British corruption of a Russian word for a card game that resembled whist:). That's what happens when you ask a question on the internet: some geek somewhere has an answer!

I think the Russian game was called biritch or Russian whist, then mispronounced as bridge

See The Bridge Players Companion, published in 1955

Hellespont on Bridge, of which I have a 1904 edition, says that bridge had only become popular in England in the last 10 years, and that it had spread from Eastern Europe, which seems to support the Britich notion. The 1904 book was the 4 th edition: I'd love to find a 1st.

[PhantomSac]

 mikeh, on 2015-January-21, 00:20, said:

I think the Russian game was called biritch or Russian whist, then mispronounced as bridge

In that case I am really lucky that today I don't have to say I'm a "bitch professional."

But you're right someone with some random knowledge always ruins my sarcastic responses, thanks Mike

[gwnn]

Throw in also doesn't make a lot of sense. Am I supposed to imagine a big danceoff where I don't want to participate but then when nobody wants to go next, someone throws me in the ring? I always thought of something like declarer throws me a ball and that means I have to play first to that trick, but that wouldn't be a throw in per se. Throw in (figuratively) means to add/include something, which putting someone on the lead doesn't.

As for endplay, I'm not sure, but you're in a corner or something, no good things to do, so it's kind of like the end of your possibilities. Of course zugzwang (German for "forced to make a move") is a more elegant word in chess than this ad hoc explanation of endplay, but we work with what we have.

[Mbodell]

 kuhchung, on 2015-January-20, 15:43, said:

Maybe in order to understand endplay, we have to look at the word itself. Basically, it's made up of two separate words — "endp" and "lay." What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is endplay.

That's a nice and handey deeper thought.

[Fluffy]

But why was it called whist in first place?. There is a book in Spain that claims that the ancestor of it is spannish "Brisca" wich is a trick card game with trump, and is said to date from when the arabs inhabited the peninsula (and they brought cards into Europe)

[mikeh]

 Fluffy, on 2015-January-21, 06:12, said:

But why was it called whist in first place?. There is a book in Spain that claims that the ancestor of it is spannish "Brisca" wich is a trick card game with trump, and is said to date from when the arabs inhabited the peninsula (and they brought cards into Europe)

'whiiist' is the sound that cards make when dealt rapidly.

Anyway, every country claims it invented everything. Which isn't true....clearly Canadians invented everything.

[aguahombre]

 mikeh, on 2015-January-21, 12:42, said:

'whiiist' is the sound that cards make when dealt rapidly.

Anyway, every country claims it invented everything. Which isn't true....clearly Canadians invented everything.

Clearly, whiskey, bacon, and pizza anyway.

[mikeh]

 aguahombre, on 2015-January-21, 13:33, said:

Clearly, whiskey, bacon, and pizza anyway.

don't EVER forget timbits!!!!!!

(for the uninitiated, I think they are the deep-fried bits punched from the centre of the dough used to make donuts...aka donut holes, I say I think they are since, despite being Canadian, I never frequent Tim Horton's, the source of this delicacy)

[mycroft]

 mikeh, on 2015-January-21, 12:42, said:

Anyway, every country claims it invented everything. Which isn't true....clearly Canadians invented everything.

'Twas the Scots that built This Country, though...

[barmar]

 Fluffy, on 2015-January-21, 06:12, said:

But why was it called whist in first place?.

According to "Bumblepuppy Days" (p.57), it was originally called "whisk" in the early 17th century, and this may have referred to the sweeping motion when you're gathering up the completed tricks.

Later in the century it morphed to "whist", which was similar to our modern "shh", meaning to keep quiet. One reason the name changed when bidding was added is because the game was no longer silent. Maybe we should go back to the old name now that bidding boxes (or written bidding down under) have become ubiquitous.

[Antrax]

"Whisk" is an awesome name for a card game that would go a long way towards popularizing the game with a younger crowd.

[Trinidad]

 PhantomSac, on 2015-January-21, 00:34, said:

In that case I am really lucky that today I don't have to say I'm a "bitch professional."

Nobody stops you from getting a second job.

Rik

[ggwhiz]

 Antrax, on 2015-January-19, 23:26, said:

it clearly has nothing to do with being near the end of the hand.

foreplay was taken

[Lovera]

 kenberg, on 2015-January-20, 15:51, said:

You may (anything is possible!) find Clyde Love's comments on page 84 of Bridge Squeezes Complete relevant. Love tells us that "Sharp distinction should be drawn between the terms "end play" and "endplay". He draws an analogy with the terms "wild cat" and "wildcat". In his view, "end play" refers to the last few tricks, whether or not an "endplay" is involved.

And yes, I once owned a somewhat wild cat but I have never owned a wildcat.

I trust we will all keep this thoroughly in mind as we discuss the game.

""The" end play of a hand-every hand- is a vague term meaning the play of the last few tricks. "An" endplay is a play belonging to the group known as squeezes, strips, and trump coups, or combinations thereof: this name is used because such plays usually occur toward the end of the hand."(From the Love text)