If you’ve ever played any game of cards in your life, you know how important secrecy is. If you show your hand at the wrong time, you could end up losing the entire game.
This is why you want to play your cards close to the chest.
Oh… wait.
I meant this is why you want to play your cards close to the vest.
Hold on a second… Is it chest or vest? I keep forgetting.
You know what? Let’s answer this question once and for all.
But, first…
What do “close to the chest” and “close to the vest” mean?
They both mean the same thing. They mean to keep your plans or intentions a secret, one that only you know. For instance, if a business plans to utilize particular tactics to penetrate a new market, but it doesn’t tell anyone about them, then said business is playing its cards close to the chest.
And, which is it? “Close to the chest” or “close to the vest”?
Well, it turns out that they are both correct. You can use either one of them, and they are interchangeable.
Examples of “close to the chest”
We are curious to know how the coach plans to beat the other team, but so far, he’s been playing things close to the chest.
The cops aren’t telling anyone the evidence they have against the suspect. They are electing to play things close to the chest for now.
Examples of “close to the vest”
If you want to be a good lawyer, you have to learn when to share your plans and when to keep things close to your vest.
The teacher wouldn’t tell her students any of the questions that might be coming on the test. She’s playing things close to the vest.
The original expressions
Interestingly, the original expressions are “playing one’s cards close to one’s vest” and “playing one’s cards close to one’s chest.”
So, is there any difference between the two?
While there may be no difference in meaning, there is definitely a difference in popularity.
According to Google Ngram, “close to the chest” came first, and it appeared sometime in the early 1800s. It wasn’t until more than a century later that “close to the vest” started appearing on the scene.
And, even then, it was nowhere near as popular as “close to the chest.”
But, if you fast forward another century to this decade, you’ll find that the popularity of “close the vest” skyrocketed, making it nearly as popular as “close to the chest.”
However, this isn’t the end of the story.
Cultural differences
If you were to look at British English, you’ll find that “close to the chest” is well-known, while “close to the vest” is not only obscure but is also unheard of by many.
In other words, many British individuals will tell you that they’ve never heard the variant “close to the vest.”
And, if you read British novels, you’ll find that most of them, if not all of them, use “close to the chest.
Moreover, according to Google Ngram, “close to the vest” is way less popular than “close to the chest” in British English.
In fact, Britons only started using “close to the vest” around the 1950s.
Before that, it was “close to the chest” all the way. And, even when “close to the vest” made its way into British English, it remained out of favor for a long while.
It wasn’t until the 1990s that “close to the vest” made some headway and gained some headway among the British population.
On the other hand, if you look at American English, you’ll find quite a different story.
For starters, “close to the vest” rose to popularity in American English starting from the late 1910s. Moreover, Americans use it more today than “close to the chest.”
Ergo, an argument could be made that “close to the vest” is an American variant, something that is more popular in American English than it is in British English.
Why is secrecy so important for strategy?
Information is power.
And, in any competitive situation, one where you have two sides vying for the same thing, the side with better information will probably be the side that wins the contest.
For instance, if you’ve ever played a game of poker, you know that keeping your hand a secret is of the utmost necessity.
What’s more, good poker players want to play in unpredictable ways so that their opponents can have no way of knowing their hand.
Nevertheless, poker players will spend years trying to spot patterns in the way their opponents play.
For instance, they will look for tells, and they will try to figure out how their opponents play different streets. This is all in an effort to gain more information.
Similarly, in life, being unpredictable and hiding your secrets can give you leverage. It can protect you from being manipulated by shady characters.
You want proof?
Think of the password to your email, the pin to your credit card, and the key to your house.
These are all things you keep close to the vest, right?
Hey fellow Linguaholics! It’s me, Marcel. I am the proud owner of linguaholic.com. Languages have always been my passion and I have studied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics and Sinology at the University of Zurich. It is my utmost pleasure to share with all of you guys what I know about languages and linguistics in general.