the.com/upper hand
The advantage you claim first and define last, retroactively.
means To have the upper hand is to hold the position of advantage or control in a contest, negotiation, or struggle.
from The phrase comes from an old literal practice: in games and in deciding who'd go first (like climbing hand over hand up a bat or stick), whoever's hand landed on top at the end held the winning grip. By the 1500s 'upper hand' had climbed off the stick and into the language as a general term for dominance — the grip became a metaphor, and the metaphor outlived the game.
- origin
- From a kids game stacking hands on a bat
- not physical
- No actual hand or upperness required
- paradox
- Claiming it loudly usually means you lack it