Growing up I used to play with the german cards (we called them hungarian). I had no idea back then there are other types of cards, until years later when I found the french cards.
daniel-1994 on
In Portugal we use French cards but with names that resemble Italian and Spanish cards. The literal translations are “Cups”, “Golds”, “Sticks”, and “Swords”.
Edit: I messed up one of the translations.
BigDickBiggms on
4 of bastioni!
Procrastinando on
In Sardinia we use Spanish cards traditionally, but if we’re talking about nowadays then French cards is probably correct
WB_Zip on
Didn’t even know that such cards exist
Sortza on
Note that within the French suit there are several “standard patterns” used in different countries or regions (e.g. things like the suicide king, the man with the ax, and the big ace of spades are unique to the English pattern). The pattern used in France has the unique tradition of naming each face card after a historical or mythical figure.
Zakkar on
TIL there is more than one type. Fascinating!
TheOddMage on
In the UK we use the French set but call them Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and Spades much like other English speaking countries.
SaraHHHBK on
In Spain, we call the French ones Poker Cards because that’s pretty much the only* game we play with them.
* Talking about playing with your friends chilling, not casinos and the likes.
Alvaricles22 on
Envido
leroyhobo on
Im Bavaria we use German cards for local games like Schafkopfen and Watten and French cards for anything else
Wunid on
What are the original colours names of French playing cards? In Poland, when I play, German names are often used for French cards (like Wine, Bell, Acorn in polish language). But also often we use French names like Karo, Trefl, Pik or we mix german and french names.
Deepdishdicktaster on
Wtf I’ve never seen any of these I mean I live in western Germany but you’d think you would at least hear of a fking bell card from someone from baveria oder eastern Germany
Arktinus on
In Slovenia, I don’t remember seeing the German cards (though that might be because I might’ve been too young when they were probably more present). I only remember seeing the French ones (diamond, spade, heart, club).
TheDutch1K on
Holy shit, finally some interesting knowledge, instead of ‘look at the size of these lakes’, your country is small
the_TIGEEER on
Wtf! That’s so interesting. In Eastern Slovenia there is a region I live close to where I have many friends called “Prekmurje”.
In Prekmurje what are here labled as “German cards” they call “Hungarian cards” and what are here labled as “French cards” they call “Austrian cards”
While in the rest of the country we mainly just have the “French cards” and we call them “cards”.
What an interesting situation.
kirmizikaplumbaga on
In Turkish we call hearts “cups” and use the shape of heart. I wonder how did that happen.
AlbaIulian on
Transylvania? German ones? 40 years ago maybe, but not anymore. Growing up I’ve mostly seen the French ones being actually used, German ones were just a curiosity in my experience.
Strange-Situation-95 on
cant believe the austro-hungarian legacy lies in cards
SoSmartKappa on
As a Czech, I can confirm that I have spend a lot of time playing with the German cards as a kid.
cecex88 on
The boundary in Italy is not exactly correct. The part called Romagna (where Rimini is, on the Adriatic side) uses Spanish type cards, a particular type called Carte Romagnole.
pdonchev on
The names of the French cards in English gave me an aneurysm. Quite literally we use similar words in my native language, but you don’t just translate the words literally without context. There are established names in English – spades, diamonds, hearts and clubs.
Konsticraft on
What’s the source? From my anecdotal experience, the distribution of the German suit goes too far to the north on the map.
SnooCalculations5521 on
The pope plays with Spanish cards
Grzechoooo on
It seems to me that “Swiss-German” was the original “German” and the current German is just contaminated by French.
Steelringin on
I was today years old when I discovered that any thing other than the ‘French’ style existed. I’ve never seen or heard of anything different.
MammothTrifle3616 on
In Croatia you know that you’re in the north part if you play with German cards, and in the south if you play with Italian.
Most popular German card game here is called “bela”, while on the coast the most popular Italiaa card games are “briškula” and “trešeta”.
tlajunen on
Finland indeed uses French suits but the names in Finnish are a strange mix of borrowing from Swedish and invented meaning from the shape.
Heart = Hertta. Phonetic borrowing from Swedish “hjärta”, meaning “heart”. Finnish word for heart is completely different “sydän”. There is also a female Finnish name “Hertta” but it has a different etymology.
Diamond = Ruutu. Like Swedish “ruta” it means “a square” (non-mathematical meaning of the word).
Club = Risti. Means “a cross”. Apparently the shape resembled a cross…
Spade = Pata. Phonetic borrowing from Swedish, but the Finnish words means “pot” or “cauldron”.
28 Comments
Growing up I used to play with the german cards (we called them hungarian). I had no idea back then there are other types of cards, until years later when I found the french cards.
In Portugal we use French cards but with names that resemble Italian and Spanish cards. The literal translations are “Cups”, “Golds”, “Sticks”, and “Swords”.
Edit: I messed up one of the translations.
4 of bastioni!
In Sardinia we use Spanish cards traditionally, but if we’re talking about nowadays then French cards is probably correct
Didn’t even know that such cards exist
Note that within the French suit there are several “standard patterns” used in different countries or regions (e.g. things like the suicide king, the man with the ax, and the big ace of spades are unique to the English pattern). The pattern used in France has the unique tradition of naming each face card after a historical or mythical figure.
TIL there is more than one type. Fascinating!
In the UK we use the French set but call them Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and Spades much like other English speaking countries.
In Spain, we call the French ones Poker Cards because that’s pretty much the only* game we play with them.
* Talking about playing with your friends chilling, not casinos and the likes.
Envido
Im Bavaria we use German cards for local games like Schafkopfen and Watten and French cards for anything else
What are the original colours names of French playing cards? In Poland, when I play, German names are often used for French cards (like Wine, Bell, Acorn in polish language). But also often we use French names like Karo, Trefl, Pik or we mix german and french names.
Wtf I’ve never seen any of these I mean I live in western Germany but you’d think you would at least hear of a fking bell card from someone from baveria oder eastern Germany
In Slovenia, I don’t remember seeing the German cards (though that might be because I might’ve been too young when they were probably more present). I only remember seeing the French ones (diamond, spade, heart, club).
Holy shit, finally some interesting knowledge, instead of ‘look at the size of these lakes’, your country is small
Wtf! That’s so interesting. In Eastern Slovenia there is a region I live close to where I have many friends called “Prekmurje”.
In Prekmurje what are here labled as “German cards” they call “Hungarian cards” and what are here labled as “French cards” they call “Austrian cards”
While in the rest of the country we mainly just have the “French cards” and we call them “cards”.
What an interesting situation.
In Turkish we call hearts “cups” and use the shape of heart. I wonder how did that happen.
Transylvania? German ones? 40 years ago maybe, but not anymore. Growing up I’ve mostly seen the French ones being actually used, German ones were just a curiosity in my experience.
cant believe the austro-hungarian legacy lies in cards
As a Czech, I can confirm that I have spend a lot of time playing with the German cards as a kid.
The boundary in Italy is not exactly correct. The part called Romagna (where Rimini is, on the Adriatic side) uses Spanish type cards, a particular type called Carte Romagnole.
The names of the French cards in English gave me an aneurysm. Quite literally we use similar words in my native language, but you don’t just translate the words literally without context. There are established names in English – spades, diamonds, hearts and clubs.
What’s the source? From my anecdotal experience, the distribution of the German suit goes too far to the north on the map.
The pope plays with Spanish cards
It seems to me that “Swiss-German” was the original “German” and the current German is just contaminated by French.
I was today years old when I discovered that any thing other than the ‘French’ style existed. I’ve never seen or heard of anything different.
In Croatia you know that you’re in the north part if you play with German cards, and in the south if you play with Italian.
Most popular German card game here is called “bela”, while on the coast the most popular Italiaa card games are “briškula” and “trešeta”.
Finland indeed uses French suits but the names in Finnish are a strange mix of borrowing from Swedish and invented meaning from the shape.
Heart = Hertta. Phonetic borrowing from Swedish “hjärta”, meaning “heart”. Finnish word for heart is completely different “sydän”. There is also a female Finnish name “Hertta” but it has a different etymology.
Diamond = Ruutu. Like Swedish “ruta” it means “a square” (non-mathematical meaning of the word).
Club = Risti. Means “a cross”. Apparently the shape resembled a cross…
Spade = Pata. Phonetic borrowing from Swedish, but the Finnish words means “pot” or “cauldron”.