# Complete this sentence: "He folded like a cheap..." **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 18, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282 "2012-05-18T02:30:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/21 "2012-05-18T13:18:23Z")
Pocket knife. They don’t stay firmly open or closed, so they can bite you by closing when you are using them or when they open a little in your pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/22 "2012-05-18T13:23:35Z")
I’ve heard “suit” most often (the idea being that you’d never fold an expensive suit, and also that a cheap suit is flimsy and more easily folded). But I’ve also heard “card table” and like that better. I have heard “folded like a house of cards”, but never in conjunction with “cheap”. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/23 "2012-05-18T13:27:16Z")
A cheap card table. Because they fold when you don’t want them to… like when you’re, you know, trying to play cards on them. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/24 "2012-05-18T13:38:53Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > Card table. Which is great because it’s got a double meaning - cheap card tables fold, sure - but so does a table of cheap card players. I’d never thought of that before! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/25 "2012-05-18T14:36:16Z")
Condom. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/26 "2012-05-18T15:16:03Z")
Hooker. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/27 "2012-05-18T15:21:03Z")
I’ve mostly heard “tent”, I think, and “suit” which makes less sense since one doesn’t typically fold suits for storage. My favorite though is “[he] folded faster than Superman on laundry day”. Can’t remember where I first heard/read it but it’s my go-to analogy for folding 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/28 "2012-05-18T15:42:22Z")
I’ve never heard the expression “folded like a cheap suit”, but I have heard the expressions “folded like a cheap card table” and “all over you like a cheap suit”. I wonder if the two got conflated? ---
**Author:** ![Stelios](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Stelios](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stelios)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/29 "2012-05-18T15:49:43Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Back in my conservative ‘Rush Limbaugh’ days there was another radio host Bob Grant that would use the phrase _ **folded like a cheap camera** _, so that’s what I got stuck with. > > Though I never really understood the context of it, does a cheap camera fold differently of at all, and how does a cheap suit fold differently then a expensive one? Not really important in the grand scheam of things I guess. How do you fold a camera? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/30 "2012-05-18T16:02:28Z")
> [@Stelios](#): > > How do you fold a camera? 😕 Large format film cameras may still use bellows construction, for all I know. It used to be pretty common. [Polaroid cameras](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaroid_camera) were using it into the 1970’s, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/31 "2012-05-18T16:03:07Z")
> [@Stelios](#): > > How do you fold a camera? 😕 Through the 1970s, cameras often folded [accordion-style](http://d2f29brjr0xbt3.cloudfront.net/498_vintageroundup/oldcameras-lesson-4.jpg) into a box. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/32 "2012-05-18T16:51:53Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > I’ve never heard the expression “folded like a cheap suit”, but I have heard the expressions “folded like a cheap card table” and “all over you like a cheap suit”. I wonder if the two got conflated? Good thought, there… I remember originally hearing “all over him like a cheap suit” to mean a micromanaging boss type, or (in a sports context) someone applying a suffocating man-on-man defense at basketball or football. “Folded like a cheap suit” doesn’t make much sense, because while it’s true that one would not hang an expensive suit, it’s still true that one would not hang a cheap suit either, because even cheap suits come with jacket hangers (I guess the pants may get folded by some folks). As for a house of cards, they don’t fold, they _fall_ (or collapse). As in, “If we can hit that bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate!” ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/33 "2012-05-19T01:38:11Z")
Cheap house of cards? As opposed to an expensive house of cards that never folds? ---
**Author:** ![Stelios](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Stelios](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stelios)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282/34 "2012-05-20T01:10:26Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Large format film cameras may still use bellows construction, for all I know. It used to be pretty common. [Polaroid cameras](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaroid_camera) were using it into the 1970’s, at least. [QUOTE=Acsenray] Through the 1970s, cameras often folded accordion-style into a box. [/QUOTE] Ah, cheers guys 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-this-sentence-he-folded-like-a-cheap/622282.md?page=1)