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The four French-suited playing cards suits used in the English-speaking world: diamonds (♦), clubs (♣), hearts (♥) and spades (♠) Traditional Spanish suits – clubs, swords, cups and coins – are found in Hispanic America, Italy and parts of France as well as Spain
The word "Spade" is probably derived from the Old Spanish spado meaning "sword" and suggests that Spanish suits were used in England before French suits. [2] The French name for this suit, Pique ("pike"), meant, in the 14th century, a weapon formed by an iron spike placed at the end of a pike. [3] In German it is known as Pik.
The Spanish word naipes is loaned from nā'ib, ranks of face cards found in the Mamluk deck. [3] The earliest record of naip comes from a Valencian rhyming dictionary by Jaume March II in 1371, but without any context or definition. By 1380, naipero (card-maker) was a recognized profession.
Spades is a trick-taking card game devised in the United States in the 1930s. It can be played as either a partnership or solo/"cutthroat" game. The object is to take the number of tricks that were bid before play of the hand began. Spades is a descendant of the whist family of card games, which also includes bridge, hearts, and oh hell.
Some sources from the United States believe that the word spic is a play on a Spanish-accented pronunciation of the English word speak. [1] [2] [3] The Oxford English Dictionary takes spic to be a contraction of the earlier form spiggoty. [4]
"Call a spade a spade" is a figurative expression.It refers to calling something "as it is" [1] —that is, by its right or proper name, without "beating about the bush", but rather speaking truthfully, frankly, and directly about a topic, even to the point of bluntness or rudeness, and even if the subject is considered coarse, impolite, or unpleasant.
Spades are always trump; therefore, any spade will beat any non-spade, regardless of rank. A trick containing more than one spade, of course, is won by the highest spade.
The general play of bid whist is similar to that of whist, with four notable exceptions. In whist, the trump suit for a given hand is determined at random by the last card dealt, whereas in bid whist, the trump suit (or whether there will even be a trump suit) for a given hand is determined by the outcome of the bidding process.