According to Señor Internet, there are hundreds of card games in the world.
But only one has made so many contributions to the English language.
I’m talking about….
Poker
So far, we’ve learned: “know when to fold”, “play your cards right,” “poker face” and “high stakes.”
Here’s another one: “He’s bluffing.”
And here’s a recent headline from the news: “Putin Isn’t Bluffing.”
In poker, part of the fun is lying.
Sometimes your cards are terrible, but if you’re a good liar, you can still win.
This is called “bluffing.”
It’s the same in life.
Sometimes people have bad cards (no money, no power, no information, no skill, no authority…), but if they can bluff well, they can still get what they want.
———-
I don’t usually do this…
I like to keep things here at Vitamin V light and fun.
But if you want to practice your new poker word…
And if you can keep your comments polite…
You can scroll down to the comments below and share your opinion.
Is Putin bluffing?
No , Putin knows he do
I think Putin often bluffs, or rather lies. Of course, he sometimes does what he says, so it’s harder to find out what the truth is. This is an old political trick. The Nazis signed a non-aggression pact with the Russians before World War II, what happened to that … everyone knows. A good question: “Why are there North Korean soldiers on the Ukrainian front?” That’s not a bluff, is it?
No.
Yes, he is bluffing successfully as he is a KGB criminal and their manner of thinking is far away from the Western people logic.
I don’t know.. Maybe.
Well, as I like to keep my English environment light and functional, I’ll only reveal my phonetic card modification:)
Since I’m not interested in politics, I don’t watch TV, my life has become happier☺️!
Agree
“Divide et impera.”..who said that?
Yes, for sure Mr. Putin is a good poker player and also he has a poker face…So he has his own style to.put both together the truth and the lies making confusion.Sometime he bluff but not at all, he has some cards like..
Today a step, tomorrow another step.
Be patient.and wait, you have enough time
Insist and…who knows?
Money, power, authority, information
Some science knowledge
Many, many people on his side…to many perhaps??
He rather is an intelligent ,bad guy, is hard to manage such a situation…
What about vulnerabilities? There.are some of these,too!
putin is intelligent. It very fun. putin has put Russia and Russian people to a pit.
Not a common intelligence, a bad, difficult to win a such guy with a such intelligence..
Do not underestimate him!
However is my opinion as a simple people. B
Watch it*
Is he bluffing about his threats to hit the West with nucs? Yes, he is.
No, he isn’t bluffing.
Or mayby he is 🙂
It’s difficult topics for me , because I can’ t lie and I don’t have a poker face, every one can read me… Ican express my feelings good or bad . But people who have such faces are not honest, they hide something and have some plans to do .. like Putin, I hope not the bad one !
I like your poker word teaching
I can´t say because I don´t understand this kind of “games”. He definitely has a poker face and he definitely pluffs, but whether he´s good or bad at bluffing, no one knows…
The answer on question if Putin does buffing I would answer with question “Is it possible to be in politics today f you are not ready for buffing? This is so obvious no exceptions from my point of view. The only difference is how good somebody does it to make people believe in what is said.
He does it almost three years. It is a time his evil bluffing to be revealing and to loose his bloody game.
Putin is tu much onest. Hi is president of big country and he has a lot of young boys. For him is not important his life.for me he is mentally ill. There vish for the bigest and stronger country is wrong for Rusia and Evrop and for world.
No, Putin not bluffing and I know that.
I’d rather err on the safe side.
Korney Chukovsky
The Cockroach
Part I
Here coma a pike
Riding a bike.
Followed by a cat — all black —
On a scooter front-to-back.
Next, live mosquitoes come into sight,
Flying along on a yellow kite.
Then arrives Mousie Mollie
On a limping, smiling collie.
And a stork astride a mare,
And a bear in a wheel-chair.
Link rabbits, soft and huggy,
Come riding in a baby buggy.
A frog does a funny trick,
Diving down from a broomstick.
Camels, horses, and donkeys
Come carrying monkeys.
A white unicorn
Trots, blowing a horn.
Slowly along the road
Hasten a turtle and a toad.
«Be careful! Don’t crush the ants,»
A hippo warns the elephants.
To the picnic they all come,
Munching candy and cake,
In a very merry mood,
For a day at the lake.
Then suddenly they grow numb and still!
Who’s that coming round that hill?!
A fierce and dreadful Roach!
A mean cock-cock-Cockroach!
«Don’t you dare to approach!»
He roars, he rages:
«I’ll lock you in cages!
And swallow you ALL
Like one tiny meatball!
«Or with a twitch of my mustache,
I’ll turn you all to succotash!»
The birds — they shudder!
The beasts — they flutter!
The poor crocodile
Forgets how to smile!
The hungry wolves, in their alarm,
Though meaning no evil or harm,
Right then and there they sup,
Gobbling one another up!
And a terrified lady dog,
Falls into a faint
On a prickly hedgehog!
Alas! Not one dares to fight,
Every bird and beast takes flight!
The Lobster, backing up a mile,
Murmurs with a bitter smile:
«I, too, have a long mustache,
I, too, can make succotash…»
The Cockroach continues to roar,
The Lobster backs up some more.
Now the Lion climbs a hill;
From there he speaks his royal will:
«We must regain our happн land!
Against the brute we’ll take a stand!
«And to the warrior who fears not this foe.
Who this monster will overthrow,
To him I’ll give a juicy bone
And the finest pine cone!»
The creatures in one eager crowd.
Surge forth and cry out loud:
«We do not fear this nasty foe.
With tooth and claw
We’ll lay him low!»
And they all rush to do battle —
Birds, fish, fowl, and cattle.
But the Roach moves his mustache
And bellows: «SUCCOTASH!»
One and all they beat a retreat.
The enemy they don’t defeat!
Into the fields and woods they dash —
Terrorized by the Roach’s mustache!
The Lion shouts; «What a disgrace!
Come back! Come out and show your face!
Pin the enemy with your horns —
Bulls, rhinoceros, unicorns!»
But each in his hiding place stays,
And wails: «Horns aren’t cheap these days…
And our skin is precious too —
What you ask of us. we cannot do!»
Caught in nettles the crocodiles twitch,
And the elephants get stuck in a ditch.
Lo! All that’s heard now
Is the flow of their tears;
All that’s seen now
Is the trembling of their ears!
And the shark, scared and pale,
With a flail of his tail,
Slithers into the lake —
Not like a shark, like a snake!
While the cunning little skunk
Already packs his trunk.
Part 2
To the Cockroach they all yield —
He’s now lord o’er wood and field.
He struts about among them,
Rubbing his big tummy,
Looks at their young ones
And thinks: «How very yummy!»
Gazes at the little ones with greed,
Orders supper to be brought him with speed!
«I want no beans or corn,
But flesh of baby unicorn;
Other youngsters as well —
Those with a savory smell.»
The poor, poor parents
Are in distress.
Their dear babes
They hug and caress:
For what mother could give up her child,
Her baby tame or her baby wild?!
So that the monster could devour
Her precious crumb, her little flower!
So mommies and daddies moan and cry
As they bid their infants good-bye!
And the monster is secretly cursed:
«May the glutton blow up!
May he burst!»
But now we see another picture:
The Kangaroo, that nimble creature —
Leaps, leaps — she’s at the Roach’s hill,
And for a moment all are mute
As she points to the mustached brute:
«A monster?! Where?!
A Giant?! There?!
«It’s a roach, a roach, a wee-bit roach,
A wee-little beetle you fear to approach.
Look! It’s a midge, a mite,
A bug that can’t even bite!
«For our trouble we’re to blame!
What a shame!
What a shame!»
The Hippo then comes forth
With slow pace and worried face,
Muttering in an anxious way:
«Please go away, go away!
Your words will make him very mad,
He may think of something very bad!
Go, Kangaroo, Kangaroo,
Go, go back to your zoo!»
Then the Hippo falls still,
Surprised by a sudden trill…
«Cheek-chee-reek. cheeky-reeky.
Cheek-chce-reek.»
And from behind a bush
They see it peek.
Hop-hop-hop — comes the reckless fellow.
A gay and carefree little Sparrow.
And right there, on the Roach’s hill,
With his cheeky-reeky trill,
Peck, peck, peck —
NO MORE ROACH!
Not a smidgen, not a speck!
He’s swallowed in a flash.
All of him and his mustache!
Part 3
What joy! What glee!
All the creatures again are free!
The Sparrow is praised and
On loving paws it’s raised —
There’s a parade,
A celebration,
A masquerade!
The mules bray a song,
Hippo strikes his gong.
To honor the Sparrow, a path is cleared:
The goat sweeps it with his beard.
The sheepish sheep
Don’t sing but hum,
The bold baboon
Beats a drum.
And from the roof the joyous bats,
Wave their hankies and their hats.
But when I lie elephants start to prance,
To clap and stomp a happy dance,
The orange moon shakes loose —
And falls right on big Moose!
Like a pinwheel it falls from the sky,
Now all is dark — save the firefly!
If we talk about politics and diplomacy, these areas of activity cannot be honest from the very beginning. It is about power and money. And in these areas there has always been a game of poker.
But someone still thinks about people of his country , and for someone it is just a game of power and prestige. It is impossible to play honestly between countries and therefore it is necessary to bluff.
Well, if someone does not understand in a good way, what is left to do? Destroy our beautiful planet?
According to psychology, even if a person is brought to the last line, he is capable of doing what he did not want to do.
Muistutan vaan. Talvisota
He may be bluffing in some steps, but Mr. Putin knows what he is doing