*Ø* Blogmanac August 29, 1769 | According to Hoyle, he was no more

The death of Edmond Hoyle (born 1672), who wrote on the rules of games. ‘According to Hoyle’ has become an English expression.

Hoyle, also known as ‘the father of whist’ (a card game), was a Londoner with a passion for card games. He wrote a best-selling book, Short Treatise on the Game of Whist, which was reprinted many times. In 1748, it was eventually incorporated with his manuals on games such as backgammon, quadrille, piquet and chess, into one volume, Hoyle’s Standard Games. This work brought him international fame, and led to the expression ‘according to Hoyle’, which has a meaning transcending its reference to the rules of games. ‘According to Hoyle’ also means ‘ship-shape’, ‘correct’ or, as the Macquarie Dictionary puts it, ‘in accordance with the recognised rules’.