play one's last card

Meaning: To make a final attempt, using the last resource one has.

Language: English

Literally: (Already vivid in English)

Example: “When the bank refused, she played her last card and asked her grandfather for the loan.”

Category: Daily Life

Origin: From card games, where the last card in hand is the final chance to win the trick. No first use has been traced.

Equivalents in other languages

French: brûler ses dernières cartouches — literally: to burn one's last cartridges

people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones — One should not criticize others for faults one has oneself.
take potshots at — To criticize someone in a casual, unfair or opportunistic way.
go underground — To go into hiding or begin operating in secret.
the knives are out — People are openly hostile and ready to attack someone, usually to bring them down.
lay it on with a trowel — To flatter or exaggerate very heavily and without subtlety.
go down fighting — To keep struggling until the very end, even when defeat is certain.

not believe one's ears — To be so surprised by what one hears that it seems impossible.
cross the Rubicon — To take an irreversible step.
like a bear with a sore head — In a very bad, irritable mood.
dead on one's feet — To be utterly exhausted.
fall flat on one's face — To fail completely and embarrassingly.
burst someone's bubble — To destroy someone's illusion or happy belief.

Pantoffelheld — A man who is only bold and brave at home — a henpecked pushover who bluster turns into a…
Schlauberger — A know-it-all smartass who never misses a chance to show off their cleverness.
Dickkopf — A pig-headed, unyielding person — their skull is so thick no new idea can penetrate it.