List of playing-card nicknames

Some playing cards have common nicknames. Some are generic while some are specific to certain card games; others are specific to patterns, such as the court cards of the Paris pattern and the Tell pattern for example, which often bear traditional names. This list does not contain names that are specific to poker or in schafkopf as it would overwhelm the list and make it difficult to identify non-poker names. Poker nicknames are listed separately here. Schafkopf nicknames are listed separately here.

Single cards

The following is a list of nicknames used for individual playing cards of the French-suited standard 52-card pack. Sometimes games require the revealing or announcement of cards, at which point appropriate nicknames may be used if allowed under the rules or local game culture.

CardAny suitClubs ♣Spades ♠Diamonds ♦Hearts ♥
King (K) Cowboy, Monarch Alexander David Julius Caesar, Man with the Axe, One-Eyed King Charlemagne, Charles, Suicide King
Queen (Q) Stenographer Argine Black Lady, Black Maria, Calamity Jane, Pallas Athena, Molly Hogan Rachel Helen of Troy, Judith
Jack (J) Boy, Bower, Fishhook, Jackson, Jake, Johnny, Knave, Valet, Nibs or Heels Lancelot, Pam Ogier Hector, Roland, Laughing Boy La Hire
Ten (10) Big Cassino
Nine (9) Neener, Nina Ross, Niner, Pothook Curse of Scotland, Scourge of Scotland
Eight (8) Pusher, Snowman
Seven (7): Fishhook, Salmon Beer card
Six (6) Sax Grace's Card
Five (5) Fever, Nickel, Pedro
Four (4) Sharp Top, Sore Spot, Sailboat Devil's Bedpost
Three (3) Crab, Trey
Two (2) Deuce, Duck Little Cassino, The Curse of Mexico
Ace (A) Bull, Bullet, Rocket, One Spot, Seed, Sharp Top Basto, Clover, Puppy Foot Death Card, Spadille, Tax Card Pig's Eye
Joker (★) Best Bower

Nicknames also exist for cards not from the standard 52-card pack:

Collective names

See also

Notes

^The Six of Hearts is known as loyalty at the risk of death or Grace's Card. This is because in 1689 emissaries of William of Orange called on John Grace, Baron of Courtstown, with an invitation to join the army of the usurper. On a playing-card lying on the table beside him he scrawled a contemptuous refusal: "Tell your master I despise his offer, and that honor and conscience are dearer to a gentleman than all the wealth and titles a prince can bestow". Baron Grace was loyal to King James II of England, and risked being shot or hanged for his refusal to give up. One hundred years later, in Kilkenny, the six of hearts was still known as ‘Grace's Card’.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Bridge Hands (2005). "Card Name: Bridge (Colloquial Jargon)". Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Mikkelson, David (1999-02-07). "Four Kings in Deck of Cards". Snopes. Retrieved 2024-09-14.
  3. ↑ Madore, David (2007-09-10). "Courts on Playing Cards". Madore.org. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  4. 1 2 From Euchre
  5. ↑ "Rules of Cribbage UK". The UK Rules. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Hemenway, Marilyn (2006). "Bridge Slang" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  7. ↑ New South Wales Bridge Association (1999). "The Beer Card". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Parlett, David. "The Language of Cards". www.parlettgames.uk. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  9. ↑ Entick, John (1786). Crakelt, William (ed.). New Spelling Dictionary. London: Charles Dilly.
  10. ↑ Perry, William (1793). Royal Standard English Dictionary. Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute.
  11. ↑ Friedman (ret.), SGM Herb (2007). "The Death Card". Archived from the original on 2007-12-26. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  12. ↑ Webster Dictionary, 1913. New York, US: Random House. 1913. p. 1377. Archived from the original on 2015-10-19.
  13. 1 2 From Watten (card game)
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Stolzenburg, Kay (September 10, 2010). "PATTERN SHEET 90". i-p-c-s.org. The International Playing-Card Society. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  15. ↑ Parlett, David (2008). The Penguin book of card games. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-103787-5. OCLC 229463734.
  16. 1 2 McLeod, John (March 26, 2010). "Games played with German suited cards". www.pagat.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  17. ↑ Trench, Charles Chenevix (1977). Grace's Card. Mercier Press. p. 4.
  18. ↑ Leeming, Joseph (1980-03-01). Games and Fun with PLaying Cards. Dover Publications. p. 3. ISBN 9780486239774.
  19. ↑ Chambers, Robert (1832). The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection with the Calendar, Including Anecdote, Biography, & History, Curiosities of Literature and Oddities of Human Life and Character, Vol II. W & R Chambers. p. 781.