20 September 2007
Port Louis — Hello and welcome to the English Language Clinic. This week I have been asked about the meaning of the idiom 'turned up trumps' (sometimes modified to 'come up trumps'). Before we look at the meaning and the story behind this expression, it would help to see it used in context.
Fred was a very lazy man; each week, he would sit in the garden and sleep, while his wife Eileen cleaned the house, looked after the children and cooked the meals. One week, Eileen had to visit a sick relative and so left Fred alone. Before leaving, she told him what needed to be done, but was sure that he wouldn't do anything. When Eileen returned, she was amazed. Fred had cleaned the whole house, tidied the garden, cooked a wonderful meal, washed the car, read stories to the children and put them to bed; he had mended the leaking roof and was standing at the door to welcome his wife home, with a huge bunch of her favourite flowers. Eileen thought to herself Wow! Fred has really 'turned up trumps'.
The word 'trump' is a corruption of the word 'triumph', which was the name of a popular card game (very similar to the modern 'whist'). In this game, one suit (diamonds, hearts, etc.) was chosen at random, by turning over (up) a card. Cards of this suit were then known as 'trump-cards' and outranked cards of any other suit. If you chose a suit that matched cards you already had, you were more likely to win. Because of this, 'turning up trumps' became linked with success.
Therefore, this idiom is used to comment on the successful completion of something, especially when success was not expected. (Imagine the headline 'England turns up trumps by beating Brazil 15 - 0 in World Cup Final'.)
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