Passing Phrase - www.learnhebrew.org.il

Yado Al Ha-elyona

Literally: His hand is on the top
Idiomatically: Has the upper hand

Some claim that the phrase in English developed from baseball where you choose who goes first by placing hand over hand on a bat seeing who gets the "upper hand." Others claim that it started with the English, and can be traced to an early 17th-century ballad Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard. In reality, it dates back to the Talmud (Baba Metezia 4b) where it refers to legal and financial matters.

Play ball?

במאבק בכנסת לקואליציאה היתה ידו על העליונה.

"Bema'avak BaKnesset ha-Ko'alitzia haya yado al ha-elyona"
In a struggle in the Knesset, the coalition had the upper hand.

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