Was Poker Face

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One of my favorite things about being part of a niche culture is the special language that develops around it. While we may not always think of it as such, poker most certainly has its own lexicon full of words and phrases that a layman would never understand. I honestly doubt my own mother would know what the 'flop' was, much less a phrase like, 'angle shooting.' However, there is one poker term that, among all others, has risen out of our game and into the common language at large, the 'poker face.'

The phrase poker face is a phrase thrown around constantly to refer to keeping one's emotions in check. Upon meeting someone with a stoic nature one might comment, 'That's quite a poker face you've got there.' In another instance one might say, 'The boss can smell fear. If you go in there, You'd better have your poker face ready.' But where did the phrase come from? Has it existed since the dawn of poker or is it secretly a recent invention? I set out to track it down.

Lady Gaga Has Revealed The Inspiration For Her 'Poker Face' Hit. Win real money slots apps. The singer performed at an exclusive gig in December at London's Mayfair's private member's club, hosted by Belvedere vodka. Definition of poker face: an inscrutable face that reveals no hint of a person's thoughts or feelings Wright has a terrific poker face—I could see how he was able to keep things a secret right up through publication. — Lawrence Weschler Work is fun.

My first google searches were fruitless. I got all sorts of results defining the phrase and many more about the hit Lady Gaga song of the same name, but no one knew where it started. I started combing through encyclopedias looking for an entry on the phrase. 'Poker' always had results, but no one had a story for the creation of 'poker face.' Finally I resorted to a rare trick called using something I learned in college. I learned some years ago that the Oxford English Dictionary includes, among its vast wealth of information, a list of important places where a word or phrase has been quoted in publication. Usually, this includes the word's first instance of publication. I searched for 'poker face' and after following that trail for a bit, I finally came up with this:

As far as I can tell, this quotation is the first ever published use of the phrase 'poker face.' It comes from a book about card games and gambling that was originally published back in 1875! While it is possible that the phrase had some use before it was ever in printed form, there is no way to prove it, and we must give credit to Cavendish, whose first name I was unable to find.

Frankly, the whole book is quite interesting as it teaches what, at the time, must have been quite new to a lot of people. Moreover, I got a kick out of some of the older terms used. For example, while the author never calls it 'Blackjack,' He does go into great detail about a French game called 'Vingt-Et-Un' which translates to '21.' It is played nearly identically to modern Blackjack except that you bet after receiving your first card. It also appears as though a 'full house' used to just be called a 'full hand.' If you enjoy the history of our sport and want to check it out, can find the free version here, thanks to Google Books.

As to the rest of my questions, it seems the idea of the poker face came around a significant time later than the game itself. While it is very hard to pin down exactly when 'Poker' became popular, card games of skill and betting have existed for hundreds of years previous to 1875. While the word 'poker' itself entered the English language some time in the early 1800's, games like Brag (English), Poque (French), and Pochen (German) are well evidenced back into the first half of the 1700's. Each of these games revolve similarly around cards and gambling. They are likely the progenitors of the poker we know today. And of course, these games could not have been played without bluffing, so the idea of concealing your facial tells probably predates our popular phrase by a good 100-150 years.

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Song Released: 2008

Poker Face Lyrics

1. 1TOP RATED

   anonymous

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   Feb 7th, 2011 2:33amreport

   
   

   Poker Face is about many things. Lady Gaga has been asked many times the meaning of this song and she has given several different answers.
   First and foremost, it is obvious that lyrically Poker Face is about sex and gambling; or more specifically, sex, with the use of gambling metaphors.
   On at least one occasion she claimed that the song was about 'how she catches guys'.. that 'the second you let guys know you like them, they run away, so you've gotta keep your poker face.'
   However, by far the most interesting interpretation, that Lady Gaga claimed herself in an interview, is that the song is essentially about being bi-curious; she says that 'sometimes, when I was making love to my old boyfriend, I would think about women.' The lyrics 'Bluffin' with my muffin' are metaphorical for 'bluffing' with your vagina. 'I won't tell you that I love you, kiss or hug you'.. In these two verses, Gaga is basically saying that she is having sex with men but doesn't feel any emotional attachment for them whatsoever, to the point where she doesn't even feel ashamed to be thinking about women while having sex with a man.
   People assume that, purely because of this song, that Lady Gaga is a 'proven bisexual' or some such. While it matters little to me, all this song really proclaims is the act of being bi-curious. I wouldn't freak out too much about it all.

2. 2TOP RATED

   anonymous

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   Nov 11th, 2009 11:11pmreport

   
   

   I read somewhere that this song is about lady gaga actually being interested in women. not necessarily a lesbian. just curious.
   The 'poker face' analogy being that to her boyfriend she obviously looks like she's straight but she's just got a 'poker face' on and is bluffing so that he doesn't find out that she's curious about women.
   I also read that it goes as far as when she's having sex with her boyfriend she's thinking about girls but I don't know if you believe that or not to be honest.

3. 3TOP RATED

   anonymous

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   Jun 4th, 2011 6:50pmreport

   
   

   I saw an interview on Fuse with Lady Gaga stating this song was about her thinking about women whilst having sex with a previous boy friend.

4. Angelboo

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   Jun 14th, 2018 6:05amreport

   
   

   It's about faking orgasms.

5. anonymous

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   May 29th, 2017 5:08pmreport

   
   

   I think is thinking about another women.

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10. theSmoothieMinister

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    Mar 3rd, 2011 3:08pmreport

    
    

    I always thought it was about her showing a guy her 'Relationship Rules' as I call them. I don't know for sure, but it's still a good song to dance to!^_^

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12. anonymous

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    Jan 13th, 2010 1:05amreport

    
    

    She's talking blow job's watch the video clip clearly, notice how her mouth is always wet and when she was talking russian roulette, with a gun? she didn't mean a real gun. listen to the chorus, when it goes all electronic when she says poke poke her face! ;)

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