Englishace up one's sleeve
Meaning: A hidden advantage or secret resource kept in reserve to use when needed.
Example: “The lawyer seemed calm because she had an ace up her sleeve: a surprise witness.”
Equivalents in other languages
Portuguese: ás na manga Literally: Ace in the sleeve
Origin: This one specifically means cheating, and it is worth separating from its near neighbors. Concealing a high card in the sleeve and introducing it at the decisive moment is fraud, and nineteenth-century gambling supply houses genuinely sold mechanical holdout devices — spring-loaded rigs strapped to the forearm — to make the switch quick and invisible. "A card up one's sleeve" softened this into a neutral hidden resource. "An ace in the hole" is different again and entirely legitimate: in stud poker the hole card is dealt face down by the rules, so a player with an ace there has a real concealed advantage nobody has cheated to obtain. The three phrases are used almost interchangeably now, but only one of them originally described breaking the rules.
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