Close to the vest

Close to the vest 有很多异体形式， "playing/keeping it close to the/your vest/chest", 但最早它从一个更长地短语演变而来 "playing your cards close to the vest"。这些短语从字面上看就是"把自己手上的牌紧紧地拿在胸口，以防别人偷看"的意思。我们一起来探究一下它是如何发展为"（做事）小心、谨慎"的意思。

把牌紧紧地拿在胸口防止他人偷看，就是为了使别人不能从战术上占便宜，所以在游戏中，你会小心翼翼，不让你的对手和他可能的同伙站在你的身后。Sinclair Lewis 在他的作品Babbitt中使用了这个短语，背景是在一男子俱乐部：He was a large man with hair en brosse, and he knew the latest jokes, but he played poker close to the chest。这里作者不单单在做事实性描述，同时意在刻画这位男子的性格。

而这个短语的隐喻用法则是其本意的自然延伸。如果说某人 play it close to the vest/chest，也就说这个人非常小心，谨慎甚至诡秘的策划什么行动，而且最重要的是隐藏自己的意图及相关信息。牛津英文字典用它来描述神秘的行为，请看原文例句：I couldn't afford to give hints...You have to play these things close to your chest。

近些年来，这种比喻的用法不光用来描述人，还被用于描述拟人化的公司实体的行为。请看例句：Tivoli Systems, a subsidiary of computer giant IBM, which has responsibility for securing the Olympics computer systems--a network of around 7,300 personal computers--was also playing its cards close to its chest today (AP newsfeed, 2000). 又如：For an industry that wants to know an awful lot about each and every one of its 'customers'--with and without clothes on--hospitals tend to keep their own business dealings pretty darn close to the vest (The Columbus Dispatch, 2000).

其实，与扑克牌相关的比喻用法简直不胜枚举，如：keep a poker face, play your cards right, have a card up your sleeve, 或 have an ace in the hole。如果要表达keep your cards close to the vest的反意，也就是不谨慎，毫无戒备，你可以用tip your hand这个短语；如果想表达打开天窗说亮话的意思，可以使用短语lay your cards on the table。