It iz one ov the hardest things on earth for a man to learn, — that he plays a third rate game ov whist.

[It is one of the hardest things on earth for a man to learn — that he plays a third-rate game of whist.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]

Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-09 (1871 ed.)
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Whist was a very popular trick-taking card game in the 18th-19th Centuries.