# Card shark or Card sharp?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/card-shark-or-card-sharp/831370>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 19, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/card-shark-or-card-sharp/831370 "2019-03-19T14:56:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/card-shark-or-card-sharp/831370/21 "2019-03-20T01:04:13Z")

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> [@markn\_1](#):
>
> “Card sharp” is what I’ve always heard, and as mentioned above, is the original (and correct) term. “Card shark” is a folk etymological error based on a mishearing an uncommon word in a fossilized phrase and interpreting it as a more common word, like “cold slaw” for “cole slaw” or “butt naked” for “buck naked”.

That’s not the full story, though. As **Doug K.** mentioned above, as a general term for a hustler, “shark” predates “sharp”, deriving from the German _Schorke_ or _Schurke_.

So while “card sharp” may predate “card shark”, that’s just because it happened to appear at a time when _shark_ had already been corrupted into _sharp_. The preferred form switches back and forth depending on the time and place.

In any case, this isn’t a case of a fossil word, like deserts turning into desserts. “Sharp” and “shark” have equal historical legitimacy and at this point are synonyms (though there may be slight differences in connotation). Arguably, they’re just different spellings for the same word.

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/card-shark-or-card-sharp/831370/22 "2019-03-20T01:12:24Z")

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> [@RitterSport](#):
>
> There’s a picture there from _1594_(!) called The Cardsharps.

Yes, that’s what the painting is called today in English, but that doesn’t mean the English term dates to 1594. The artist Caravaggio was Italian, and the Italian title is “I bari” (“the cheaters”). Th English noun _sharp_ (“a cheater”) is from the 1790s, a shortened form of the earlier _sharper_ from the 1680s.

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/card-shark-or-card-sharp/831370/23 "2019-03-20T02:11:38Z")

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It is either as explained above. But Shark is more commonly heard today.

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**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/card-shark-or-card-sharp/831370/24 "2019-03-20T08:43:23Z")

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IN Regency England Sharps preyed upon Flats 😃

I know both phrases, in my mind a sharp is a cheater in games played for money and a shark is aggressively competitive. However that’s only what I think now after I’ve been made aware of the distinction.

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