Yarborough

Word of the Day for Thursday 2^nd January 2014

Yarborough \YAHR-bur-oh, -buhr-oh or, esp. British, -ber-uh\, noun:

Whist, Bridge. a hand in which no card is higher than a nine.

"Who kills over a bridge hand? Anyway, I had a total Yarborough—look at my hand and look at her hand!"
-- Matthew Granovetter, I Shot My Bridge Partner, 1999

"When the time comes, I shall take a white handerchief out of my coat pocket. That will mean that you are about to be dealt a Yarborough…"
-- Ian Fleming, Moonraker, 1955

Yarborough came to English in the late 1800s after the 2nd Earl of Yarborough, who was said to have bet 1000 to 1 against the occurrence of a card hand in which no card is higher than a nine.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com