card [LME] A medieval word that comes via French carte from Latin charta ‘papyrus leaf or paper’, the source of chart [M16th], and charter [ME]. Its first recorded sense was ‘playing card’, source of many expressions we use today. To have a card up your sleeve [19th] is to have a plan or asset that you are keeping secret until you need it. If you play your cards right you make the best use of your assets and opportunities to ensure you get what you want. The expression was the more grammatical ‘play your cards well’ [M18th] until the 20th century. To lay your cards on the table [M19th] is to be completely open and honest in saying what your intentions are. Rather different from the above expressions is on the cards [E19th] (in the US, in the cards), meaning ‘possible or likely’. The cards being referred to here are ones used for fortune-telling.

In Britain a person unlucky enough to get or be given their cards [M20th] is sacked from their job. The cards referred to are the National Insurance details and other documents that were formerly retained by the employer during a person’s employment. A politician who is said to play the race card [L19th] exploits the issue of race or racism for their own ends. Charles Dickens (1812–70) was fond of using card in the sense ‘an odd or eccentric person’, and his Sketches by Boz (1836) provides the first written use. It comes from sure card [M16th], meaning a person who was sure to succeed. Discard [L16th] was probably originally used in relation to rejecting a playing card.