Close to the vest 有很多異體形式， "playing/keeping it close to the/your vest/chest", 但最早它從一個更長地短語演變而來 "playing your cards close to the vest"。這些短語從字面上看就是"把自己手上的牌緊緊地拿在胸口，以防別人偷看"的意思。我們一起來探究一下它是如何發展為"（做事）小心、謹慎"的意思。
把牌緊緊地拿在胸口防止他人偷看，就是為了使別人不能從戰術上占便宜，所以在游戲中，你會小心翼翼，不讓你的對手和他可能的同伙站在你的身后。Sinclair Lewis 在他的作品Babbitt中使用了這個短語，背景是在一男子俱樂部：He was a large man with hair en brosse, and he knew the latest jokes, but he played poker close to the chest。這里作者不單單在做事實性描述，同時意在刻畫這位男子的性格。
而這個短語的隱喻用法則是其本意的自然延伸。如果說某人 play it close to the vest/chest，也就說這個人非常小心，謹慎甚至詭秘的策劃什么行動，而且最重要的是隱藏自己的意圖及相關信息。牛津英文字典用它來描述神秘的行為，請看原文例句：I couldn't afford to give hints...You have to play these things close to your chest。
近些年來，這種比喻的用法不光用來描述人，還被用于描述擬人化的公司實體的行為。請看例句：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).
其實，與撲克牌相關的比喻用法簡直不勝枚舉，如：keep a poker face, play your cards right, have a card up your sleeve, 或 have an ace in the hole。如果要表達keep your cards close to the vest的反意，也就是不謹慎，毫無戒備，你可以用tip your hand這個短語；如果想表達打開天窗說亮話的意思，可以使用短語lay your cards on the table。
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