# What does it mean to "fold on a debt"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 15, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177 "2016-02-15T03:06:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177/1 "2016-02-15T03:06:33Z")
Hi The phrase “fold on a debt” sounds like giving up on a debt/abandoning a debt. I’m not sure. I look forward to your feedback. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177/2 "2016-02-15T03:20:16Z")
I don’t know that that’s a term? ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177/3 "2016-02-15T03:27:33Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I don’t know that that’s a term? Thanks Captain Amazing. That’s what I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177/4 "2016-02-15T04:34:32Z")
Well, where did you hear it? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177/5 "2016-02-15T04:44:23Z")
I just did a google; I saw a reference to a gambler’s hand: Hold em/fold em. Thank you, Kenny Rogers\* - - how many people can milk a single song for that many years? While being paid THAT much for doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177/6 "2016-02-15T08:07:33Z")
I would be inclinded to interpret it as declaring bankruptcy in the face of a debt. Not that this is a phrase I have heard before, but would make sense to me like that if anyone was to say it. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177/7 "2016-02-15T11:07:54Z")
I have heard the phrase before. It just means walking away from a debt and not paying it. Businesses sometimes “fold” too (close abruptly while leaving unpaid creditors behind). There isn’t anything mysterious about the phrase. It is one of the official menaings of the word “fold”: 7 a : to concede defeat by withdrawing (one’s cards) from play (as in poker) b : to bring to an end > **[Definition of FOLD](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fold)** > > to lay one part over another part of; to reduce the length or bulk of by doubling over; to clasp together : entwine… See the full definition ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177/8 "2016-02-15T12:53:00Z")
Always thought the phrase was “fold on a bet.” Seems to make more sense, especially in the card game allusion. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177/9 "2016-02-15T12:59:52Z")
> [@quiltguy](#): > > Always thought the phrase was “fold on a bet.” Seems to make more sense, especially in the card game allusion. I agree with this. If you only _heard_ the phrase, then It’s most likely you heard “bet” as “debt.” Easy enough to do. If you read it instead, then the writer may have had similar issues. If the writer was an authority on indebtedness, then it would be worth checking further for explanations. But I’m betting ( 🙂 ) on the “bet” interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177/10 "2016-02-15T13:27:36Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I have heard the phrase before. It just means walking away from a debt and not paying it. Businesses sometimes “fold” too (close abruptly while leaving unpaid creditors behind). > > There isn’t anything mysterious about the phrase. It is one of the official menaings of the word “fold”: > > 7 > a : to concede defeat by withdrawing (one’s cards) from play (as in poker) > b : to bring to an end > > [Fold Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fold) Thanks Shagnasty. I heard someone use it recently and was’t sure if it was proper usage. I have never seen it in writing. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177/11 "2016-02-15T16:12:45Z")
Google shows [this thread](https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=+%22fold+on+a+debt%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&hl=ja) as the only written example in the entire world. As I tell my English students, even natives make mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177/12 "2016-02-15T23:02:05Z")
or maybe > **[File Bankruptcy Or Pay Creditors: Questions To Guide Decision](https://www.bankruptcysoapbox.com/when-to-fold/)** > > Five factors drive whether you should file bankruptcy or not. See where you fall on these five scales as you decide what to do about debt. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-to-fold-on-a-debt/746177/13 "2016-02-15T23:14:54Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > or maybe > [File Bankruptcy Or Pay Creditors: Questions To Guide Decision](http://www.bankruptcysoapbox.com/when-to-fold/) Yes, that contains some legitimate examples and is the way I have heard it used as well. It isn’t a common usage but it should be easy to figure out in context because the construction makes sense for some definitions of ‘fold’.