2006-07-28 05:23:30 · 3 answers · asked by skinaked247 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Long ago when settlers began making their home in what is now the United States, there was no common currency, no laws of bartering or trade. A miner had borrowed food supplies from a farmer with an arrangement that when he struck gold, he would repay the farmer with a portion of his findings. The miner searched and searched for gold to no avail. Meanwhile, the farmer had lost his patience and kept irritating the miner over his debt. This continued for a good deal of time. Finally, the miner being frustrated and coming to the realization there was no gold where he thought he'd find some, abandoned his mining and visited the farmer. He ultimately gave the farmer no option as the only thing the miner had of value to settle his debt was several "spade shovels", thus the quote "paying it in spades".
Actually, I made all this up but sounds good and gets me 2 points!
=D
2006-07-28 05:34:20 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My guess would be from the card game of Bridge.
The color "spades" is the highest ranking one.
2006-07-28 05:30:04 · answer #2 · answered by Hi y´all ! 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it can come from card games
2006-07-28 05:28:50 · answer #3 · answered by alaplya 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋