What does putting your cards on the table mean?

Also, put one’s cards on the table. Be open and honest, reveal one’s position or intentions, as in John laid his cards on the table and told her how much they could afford. This expression alludes to showing the hand one holds. [c. 1900] Also see show one’s hand.

What is the meaning lay the table?

To place and arrange things to be used while eating a meal, such as plates, utensils, glasses, napkins, etc.; to set the table.

What’s on the cards meaning?

phrase. If you say that something is on the cards in British English, or in the cards in American English, you mean that it is very likely to happen. Last summer she began telling friends that a New Year marriage was on the cards.

Do not lay all your cards meaning?

Idiom: (put) lay (all) your cards on the table. explain everything that you know truthfully and completely.

Do it off your own bat?

to do something without anyone else telling you or asking you to do it: I didn’t ask her to buy them a present – she did it off her own bat.

What is the meaning of beck and call?

: always ready to do whatever someone asks He expects his employees to be at his beck and call day and night. She is at the beck and call of the committee.

Is laid on the table?

If a proposal or motion is laid on the table, it is essentially a euphemism, meaning that “nothing further will be done in this matter” or “we are not going to do anything about this” or “we refuse the petition”.

Do you lay or set a table?

2 Answers. It’s not so much that set is American and that lay is British – rather, that Brits use both forms more or less equally often… Personally, I find set slightly more “formal, dated” – but I suppose that’s just because half a century ago, my mother always instructed one of us kids to lay the table.

What is the meaning of the idiom eleventh hour?

the last possible moment for doing something: to change plans at the eleventh hour.

What does eat their words mean?

to be forced to admit that you were wrong about something: I said he’d never win, but I had to eat my words.

Is off your own bat meaning?

phrase. If someone does something off their own bat, they do it without anyone else suggesting it. [British] Whatever she did, she did off her own bat.

What does it mean to put your cards on the table?

put (one’s) cards on the table To reveal something that one has kept hidden, such as one’s motives, intentions, opinion, etc.; to be very candid. A reference to a player in a card game revealing the cards that they were holding. You deserve honesty, so I’m going to put my cards on the table.

What does the idiom put on the table mean?

To reveal something that one has kept hidden, such as one’s motives, intentions, opinion, etc.; to be very candid. A reference to a player in a card game revealing the cards that they were holding. You deserve honesty, so I’m going to put my cards on the table.

Where does the expression lay cards on the table come from?

The term comes from numerous card games in which the players must at some point turn their cards faceup and show their hands. The expression was transferred to a more general meaning in the late sixteenth century. Want to thank TFD for its existence?

What does a place card at a wedding mean?

Here’s the basic description of a place card, courtesy of Wikipedia: A place card is a piece of paper indicating what table a guest at an event, such as a wedding or banquet, is assigned to sit. Place cards generally have the guest’s name and table number, and frequently have some design as well to add style.