US IB English-Topdog/Underdog: Background Knowledge

Top Dog

• A person who has achieved a position of authority (Cambridge Dictionary)
• A person who uses their good looks, charm, and humor (if they possess it) to dominate others. He/she navigates the social or business world with the perception of having everything under control. Generally coming in at the lead, the top dog exerts a wide circle of influence around themselves (Urban Dictionary.)
• Top dog refers to someone who is at the top of the pecking order, someone who is dominant or at the apex of his field. The term top dog used as an idiom seems to only date back to the 1800s. An idiom is a word, group of words or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is not easily deduced from its literal meaning. Other terms such as over dog and upper dog were also in use, but they have fallen by the wayside. The term top dog seems to have evolved from the literal meaning of the phrase, describing the dog who is dominant in a pack or victorious in a dogfight (Grammarist.com)
• One who is dominant or victorious. (phrases.org.uk)

Underdog

• a person or group of people with less power, money, etc. than the rest of society: (Cambridge Dictionary)
• Someone who is hardly noticed. Kind of the opposite of popular or the best, but not exactly the worst. (Urban Dictionary)
• An underdog is the person in a contest or competition who is the least likely to win that contest or competition. An underdog begins a contest or competition at a disadvantage, which may be due to his physical stature, lack of education, lack of social advantages, lack of funds, etc. The word underdog first appeared in the mid-1800s, and is derived from the illegal practice of dog fighting, the underdog being the one that loses the fight (Grammarist)
• a person who is expected to lose in a contest or conflict.
• a victim of social or political injustice (Dictionary.com)

(Image from Wikipedia.com)

John Wilkes Booth’s hatred of Lincoln grew as the Confederacy’s cause collapsed. On April 11, 1865, he heard Abraham Lincoln address a crowd outside the White House. Lincoln advocated extending the vote to educated African Americans and all black veterans. Booth turned to his companion Lewis Powell and exclaimed, “That means nigger citizenship. That is the last speech he will ever make.”

A Maryland native, Booth was born into one of the country’s leading families of actors. He was well known at Ford’s Theatre. On the night of April 14, he was welcomed as he passed up the stairs to the president’s box.

On April 14, 1865, the Lincolns and their two guests, Clara Harris and Maj. Henry Rathbone, arrived late to Ford’s Theatre for a production of Our American Cousin. As the president entered the theater, the crowd wildly cheered and the orchestra played “Hail to the Chief.” Lincoln set his silk hat on the floor, and the actors resumed where they had left off.

At about 10:15 p.m., John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential box, pointed a derringer pistol at the back of the president’s head and fired. Booth then pulled out a knife, slashed Rathbone, and jumped onto the stage, declaring “Sic semper tyrannis”—“Thus always to tyrants,” the Virginia state motto. Despite breaking his leg as he hit the stage, Booth escaped backstage and onto a waiting horse.

(https://americanhistory.si.edu/lincoln/booth-and-lincoln)

The Three-card Monte game itself is very simple. To play, a dealer places three cards face down on a table, usually on a cardboard box which provides the ability to set up and disappear quickly. The dealer shows that one of the cards is the target card, e.g., the queen of hearts, and then rearranges the cards quickly to confuse the player about which card is which. The player is then given an opportunity to select one of the three cards. If the player correctly identifies the target card, the player gets the amount bet (the "stake") back, plus the same amount again; otherwise, the stake is lost.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-card_Monte