To go nap is an English expression meaning to score or win five times or, alternatively, to risk everything on one attempt.Soanes and Stevenson (2005), p. 1168. More broadly it can mean to take everything.

Origin

The phrase originates from a bid in the card game of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, known colloquially as "Nap", in which a player undertakes to win all five tricks. Napoleon appeared in the 1880s in England and the phrase has been used since about 1885.

Derivatives

A derived expression is "nap hand", which is a situation where there is a high chance of success if risk is taken. It is based on the fact that a player willing to risk announcing a Nap in the card game is likely to have a strong hand.

Examples

* "Ipswich Athletic also went nap, defeating Carlton Colville Town 5-2." * "The way in which he went 'nap' on this particular occasion was this: He had exhausted all his policy measures and in order to go 'nap' he went to the Old Country and borrowed as much money as he possibly could. I have supplied honourable gentlemen already with figures which conclusively show that between 1898 and 1903 our public debt went up by leaps and bounds, and that is what I call going 'nap'. It is going 'nap' with the credit of the country."Herdman (1903). Extract from ''Parliamentary Debates: House of Representatives''. Wellington: New Zealand Government. p. 627.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* Soanes, Catherine and Angus Stevenson (2005). ''Oxford Dictionary of English''. 2nd edn. Oxford: OUP. {{ISBN, 978-0-19-861057-1 British English idioms 1880s neologisms