old maid (card game)

because commercial decks for this child's game mark the key card (showing an old woman) as the "Old Maid," it is difficult to avoid ageist and sexist associations. The dreaded leftover card has not always been female; at times the game has been called Le Vieux Garçon (French for "the old boy"). Since the only known nonsexist name for the game is ageist (Old Miser), those who are passing it on to the next generation might want to rename it: remove three aces from a regular deck of cards (leaving the ace of hearts) and call it Ace. Or, add a joker to the deck and call it Joker, Wild Card, or The Cheese Stands Alone.