Up your sleeve

Saturday, 2024-2-10, Phrase: Up your sleeve

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Phrase: Up your sleeve

Have you ever heard someone say they have something up their sleeve?

It’s a common phrase to indicate that someone has a hidden plan or strategy that they keep secret until the right moment.

It’s a symbolic reference to a magician who hides tricks up their sleeves to trick their audience.

When someone says they have something up their sleeve, it means they have a secret plan or strategy that they keep hidden.

Let’s call it the rainy day fund of strategies.


It’s a way of saying they have something in reserve to give them an advantage in a particular situation.


The phrase is often used in business, politics, and sports to describe someone who has a clever or unexpected move that they are waiting for the right time to use.

For example, in a business meeting, someone might say, “I have something up my sleeve to help us close this deal.”

It could be a clever negotiation tactic to apply pressure or a unique solution to a problem that no one else has thought of yet.

In politics, a candidate might say, “I have something up my sleeve that will sway the voters in my favour.”

It could be a surprise endorsement, a clever advertising campaign or a dirty little secret about their opponent.

In sports, a coach might say, “We have a few tricks up our sleeve for the next game.”

It could be a new play or a unique strategy to exploit the other team’s weaknesses.

In conclusion, whether you are in business, politics, or sports, always keep something up your sleeve; you never know when it will come in handy!  


Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test

This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).  

On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 71.  

The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100. 



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