Shark or sharp?

[genomon]

Card shark, or card sharp? Never thought too much about it, but good arguments for both here:

http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/cardshark.asp

"Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted."

 

[tcsbiz]

I've always heard it as shark. Although, if you believe the movies, card sharks always look sharp.

 

[AnotherHiggins]

I've never heard anyone say "sharp". At least, I don't think I have. They do sound quite similar.

If the term is "sharp", then are there also pool sharps instead of pool sharks?

This reminds me of a neighbor I had as a kid. He made it to his teenage years thinking the word for the things you put on your hands to keep them warm was, "cluvs". Hey, it sounds similar to gloves.

[tt]_____
[blue]-John[/blue][/tt]
[tab][red]The plural of anecdote is not data[/red]

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[traingamer]

I always heard sharp in Western Pennsylvania.

Greg
People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. Kierkegaard

 

[flapeyre]

Something in the back of my mind makes me think that card sharp is is UK/commonwealth usage. Perhaps it somehow morphed into "card shark" on the left side of the Pond (seeing as how sharks are not common in the higher latitudes).

Da mihi sis crustum Etruscum cum omnibus in eo.

 

[flapeyre]

This reminds me of a neighbor I had as a kid. He made it to his teenage years thinking the word for the things you put on your hands to keep them warm was, "cluvs". Hey, it sounds similar to gloves.

And, when you come inside, wash your hands at the zinc.

Da mihi sis crustum Etruscum cum omnibus in eo.

 

[harebrain]

This reminds me of a neighbor I had as a kid. He made it to his teenage years thinking the word for the things you put on your hands to keep them warm was, "cluvs". Hey, it sounds similar to gloves.

It's not uncommon here (San Diego) to hear kids, when singing the national anthem, begin "Jose, can you see...

 

[genomon]

Wasn't Hendrix at the forefront of tolerance in Purple Haze with his famous "Excuse me, while I kiss this guy."?

"Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted."

 

[mmerlinn]

[ ]

Never heard card sharp - always heard card shark

This reminds me of a neighbor I had as a kid. He made it to his teenage years thinking the word for the things you put on your hands to keep them warm was, "cluvs". Hey, it sounds similar to gloves

And here I thought those things were Handshoes.

mmerlinn

http://mmerlinn.com

"We've found by experience that people who are careless and sloppy writers are usually also careless and sloppy at thinking and coding. Answering questions for careless and sloppy thinkers is not rewarding." - Eric Steven Raymond

 

[CajunCenturion]

I've always heard it as shark, too.

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[SkipVought]

I think we ought to ask Andy Rooney. He would generate many words, and thought, pro, con & otherwise.

Skip,

_{Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE!}

 

[Welshbird]

AFAIK It's SHARK this side of the pond too.

Fee

"The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea." Isak Dinesen

 

[Remou]

Sharp is quite old:

"Ye flats, sharps, and rum ones, who make up this pother;"

"At knock-'em-downs and tiddlywink,
To be a sharp you must not shrink,
But be a brick and sport your chink [11]
To win must be your plan.
And set-toos and Cock-fighting
Are things you must take delight in,
And always try to be right in
And every kidment scan."

"You bible-sharps that thump on tubs, [1]
You lurkers on the Abram-sham, "

--

http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/etext05/7mped10.htm

Cons of all sorts were sharps.