on the cards
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Likely to happen, projected, and talked about as likely to occur. This phrase may have allusion to the programme or card of the races, but is more likely to derive from fortune-telling by cards.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “on the cards” mean?
Likely to happen, projected, and talked about as likely to occur. This phrase may have allusion to the programme or card of the races, but is more likely to derive from fortune-telling by cards.
Is “on the cards” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.