Go nap
To "go nap" is an English expression meaning to score or win five times or, alternatively, to risk everything on one attempt.[1] More broadly it can mean to take everything.
Origin
The phrase originates from a bid in the card game of Napoleon, known colloquially as "Nap", in which a player undertakes to win all five tricks.[a] Napoleon appeared in the 1880s in England and the phrase has been used since about 1885.[2]
Derivatives
A derived expression is "nap hand", which is a situation where there is a high chance of success if risk is taken.[3] It is based on the fact that a player willing to risk announcing a Nap in the card game is likely to have a strong hand.
Examples
- "Ipswich Athletic also went nap, defeating Carlton Colville Town 5-2."[4]
- "The way in which he went 'nap' on this particular occasion was this: He had exhausted all his policy measures and in order to go 'nap' he went to the Old Country and borrowed as much money as he possibly could. I have supplied honourable gentlemen already with figures which conclusively show that between 1898 and 1903 our public debt went up by leaps and bounds, and that is what I call going 'nap'. It is going 'nap' with the credit of the country."[5]
Footnotes
- ^ The online Merriam-Webster dictionary says that "to go nap" means to make all the points in Napoleon, but this is incorrect since it is a plain-trick, not a point-trick, game.
References
- ^ Soanes and Stevenson (2005), p. 1168.
- ^ Frequency of Use of the Term "Go Nap" Over Time at educalingo.com. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
- ^ Nap at dictionary.reverso.net. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
- ^ Goals Aplenty in Junior Cup Ties. at suffolkfa.com. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
- ^ Herdman (1903). Extract from Parliamentary Debates: House of Representatives. Wellington: New Zealand Government. p. 627.
Bibliography
- Soanes, Catherine and Angus Stevenson (2005). Oxford Dictionary of English. 2nd edn. Oxford: OUP. ISBN 978-0-19-861057-1