Hi, Anton!  Recently you wrote in a message to Alexander Koryagin:

AK>  "Well, optimism has never been his strong suit," said Kate.

                            [...]

AS>  You ask whether the term pertains, or is pertinent, to card
AS>  games.  I think `suit' there denotes general perseverence 
AS>  in an effort, but the dict.org begs to differ:


         According to THE FREE DICTIONARY, this term may refer either to card games or to a highly developed characteristic/talent/skill.  Dict.org says it may refer to a person's best asset & uses neatness as an example.

         The second alternative is more figurative... but I think you were on the right track when you mentioned perseverance WRT Alexander's citation.  No matter what talents an individual was born with, they may be improved by hard work & perseverance.  I find the study of English a lot more interesting than e.g. certain games & tend to put more effort into what comes naturally to me.

         We could also say neatness isn't a person's forte, using the term as it's used in music to refer to strength (but not necessarily to volume).  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+