Oct 13, 2012 09:25
11 yrs ago
English term
take the long end
English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
"What suits me," Keogh used to say, "in the way of a business proposition is something diversified that looks like a longer shot than it is—something in the way of a genteel graft that isn't worked enough for the correspondence schools to be teaching it by mail. I ---------------------take the long end; ---------------------but I like to have at least as good a chance to win as a man learning to play poker on an ocean steamer, or running for governor of Texas on the Republican ticket. And when I cash in my winnings, I don't want to find any widows' and orphans' chips in my stack."
Thank you!
Thank you!
Responses
| 4 | betting term |
Adela Porumbel
|
| 4 | take a long shot |
Yvonne Gallagher
|
| 3 | like to take a risky deal |
Cristina Duta Pinrat
|
References
| betting term |
Adela Porumbel
|
Change log
Oct 13, 2012 09:25: changed "Kudoz queue" from "In queue" to "Public"
Responses
5 days
Adela Porumbel
Romania
Romania
Romania
BestWords
Native in: Romanian 
Works in: English to Romanian, Romanian to English, Romanian to French, and 17 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
betting term
I repost this as an answer with the same explanation, thanks.
a) What does 'I take long end' mean? It's a betting term. For example, people are betting on whether it will rain. $10,000 is bet that it will rain. $100 is bet that it will not rain. If you bet that it will rain, you are 'taking the long end of the bet'. If you take the long end, it really means that you will not make a lot of money if you win, as you usually get better odds if you bet on the short end and it wins.
Here, the writer is saying that he does not want to make large amounts of money from other people, he's not a greedy, selfish man.
a) What does 'I take long end' mean? It's a betting term. For example, people are betting on whether it will rain. $10,000 is bet that it will rain. $100 is bet that it will not rain. If you bet that it will rain, you are 'taking the long end of the bet'. If you take the long end, it really means that you will not make a lot of money if you win, as you usually get better odds if you bet on the short end and it wins.
Here, the writer is saying that he does not want to make large amounts of money from other people, he's not a greedy, selfish man.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
18 mins
Cristina Duta Pinrat
Romania
Romania
Specializes in field
Romania
Translation with a vision
Native in: Romanian
Works in: English to Romanian, Romanian to English, English
like to take a risky deal
Or: I like to take a risk
One of the meanings of "long" is "involving substantial risk".
That's my understanding of the phrase.
One of the meanings of "long" is "involving substantial risk".
That's my understanding of the phrase.
2 hrs
Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Ireland
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian, Irish, UK) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
659
take a long shot
he takes a chance even if the odds are seemingly stacked against him winning
He will gamble as
"looks like a longer shot than it is" means that
perhaps the odds aren't quite so bad after all, since he then goes on to say how he likes to feel he has a chance...so perhaps it isn't really as risky a propositions as it seems at first glance
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1345226
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/long shot
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Note added at 3 hrs (2012-10-13 12:52:17 GMT)
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another thing in the wordplay here is the expression "take the long end of the stick" means that the chances are equal i.e. no such thing as a "long end" both ends are the same in a stick; it just depends where you decide to measure from!
He will gamble as
"looks like a longer shot than it is" means that
perhaps the odds aren't quite so bad after all, since he then goes on to say how he likes to feel he has a chance...so perhaps it isn't really as risky a propositions as it seems at first glance
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1345226
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/long shot
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2012-10-13 12:52:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
another thing in the wordplay here is the expression "take the long end of the stick" means that the chances are equal i.e. no such thing as a "long end" both ends are the same in a stick; it just depends where you decide to measure from!
Reference comments
20 mins
Adela Porumbel
Romania
Romania
Romania
BestWords
Native in: Romanian
Works in: English to Romanian, Romanian to English, Romanian to French, and 17 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Reference:
betting term
a) What does 'I take long end' mean? It's a betting term. For example, people are betting on whether it will rain. $10,000 is bet that it will rain. $100 is bet that it will not rain. If you bet that it will rain, you are 'taking the long end of the bet'. If you take the long end, it really means that you will not make a lot of money if you win, as you usually get better odds if you bet on the short end and it wins.
Here, the writer is saying that he does not want to make large amounts of money from other people, he's not a greedy, selfish man.
Here, the writer is saying that he does not want to make large amounts of money from other people, he's not a greedy, selfish man.
Peer comments on this reference comment:
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1 day 19 hrs
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