DEUCE (a corruption of the Fr. deux, two)  , a term applied to the " two " of any suit of cards, or of dice . It is also a term used in tennis when both sides have each scored three points in a game, or five games in a set; to win the game or set two points or games must then be won consecutively . The earliest instances in English of the use of the slang expression " the deuce," in exclamations and the like, date from the middle of the 17th century . The meaning was similar to that of " plague " or " mischief " in such phrases as " plague on you," " mischief take you " and the like . The use of the word as an euphemism for " the devil " is later . According to the New English Dictionary the most probable derivation is from a Low German das daus, i.e. the " deuce " in dice, the lowest and therefore the most unlucky throw . The personification, with a consequent change of gender, to der daus, came later . The word has also been identified with the name of a giant or goblin in Teutonic mythology .