Ace the ace

Posted by Smokey Stover on September 08, 2007

In Reply to: Ace the ace posted by Baceseras on September 07, 2007

: : : : Ace the ace - what is that supposed to mean?

: : : "Ace the ace" doesn't come up as a phrase on google. "Ace", though, can mean to do something easily ("He aced 100% on his exam."). It is also, in many card games, the highest card. So, with these sorts of meanings I would take "ace the ace" to be a very good thing. Someone else might have a different suggestion. Pamela

: : I would try to explain it this way. THe ace is the highest card, the topper. It tops any other card. To ace the ace means to top the topper, to top the highest card, to get higher than the highest. Since it is by definition an impossibility to top the highest, the author of this phrase is using both hyperbole and paradox, and rendering his meaning obscure to at least some readers.
: : SS

: The OED correctly mentions the American usage of "ace" as "a person outstanding in any activity or occupation" (following its use to designate a superior airman in the first world war). To "ace the ace" would be to best such a person in competition in his strong suit.

You believe, then, that the expression is a sort of pun, using the verb, to ace, followed by the noun, acen (asin expert)? My opinion is about the same as my earlier one. I might add that in American usage, you don't "ace 100%" on the exam, rather you "ace the exam," not usually by getting a perfect score, but by getting a high score. Usage varies somewhat, actually, but always includes a passing grade.
SS

• Ace the ace Smokey Stover 08/September/07
  • Ace the ace Baceseras 08/September/07
    • Ace the ace pamela 13/September/07