We're nearing the end of the Sports and Leisure chapter of The Little Book of Answers by Doug Lennox. It seems like things are geared more towards sports than leisure, though to be honest I don't know what I would expect from a "leisurely" factoid!
"Caddies" has quite the winded history in how golf assistants got this name. In France, during the medieval ages, first-born noble sons were called "caput" or head, of the family, while the next son was called "capdets" or little head. They were the ones that were sent to the military. The English "capdets" became "cadets" which the Scots then abbreviated to "cads" or "caddies", meaning useless street kid who could be used to carry a golf bag around all day long.
Wow. That's just mean.
GOLF initially meant, "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden." This was basically the name used for all the exclusive men's clubs. The clubs were for men who wanted to get away from the women for some time and enjoy themselves. When they started chasing a small ball around the grounds, the game quickly became golf.
Yeah...this is just making me dislike golf even more!
Billiards were always played on a felt covered table much as it does today. In the 19th century off-track gamblers would play billiards while waiting to hear the results of the horse races. At times, the players might have pooled their money together to bet on a horse they liked the chances of, it would help up the winnings if they won or soften the blow if they lost. The "pooled" money would be counted on the billiards table and eventually, the gamblers soon referred to it as the pool table.
Now that's rather interesting!
Winning "hands down" has nothing to do with card games or the one you see above, lol. It actually refers to horseracing. In the early days, when a jockey was close to winning the race and it was a "sure thing", he would let go of the reins and let the horse have free reign to run over the finish line. By dropping the reins, he'd be putting his hands down in winning!
Never knew that!
(image borrowed from WSYX)
Winning the "jackpot" means winning a large amount of money through gambling. This word came from a game of draw poker in which the game couldn't "start" until a pair of jacks were laid down in the first move. This could take several hands to happen and each time it did, the players had to add to the ante. When a pair of jacks was laid down the game could officially start with the betting and the winner would take the "pot" that was started from the "jacks" being laid down.
The expression "according to Hoyle" refers to one Edmond Hoyle, an Englishman who wrote a rule book for the card game whist in 1742. His rules were used to settle arguments during that one particular game. It wasn't until 1897 when Robert Foster published "Foster's Hoyle" which included the rules to all other card games as well. "According to Hoyle" soon meant according to the rules of any game, be it in business or personal situations.
"To turn the tables" is a chess expression that dates back to 1634. This would be when there's a dramatic turn in events when the losing player makes a sudden recovery. This switch would make it seem as if the losing player had physically turned the table around by becoming the winning player.
