an unstable construction with playing cards; "he built three levels of his cardcastle before it collapsed"
a speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot control; "his proposal was nothing but a house of cards"; "a real estate bubble"
the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people; "the immigrants spoke an odd dialect of English"; "he has a strong German accent"; "it has been said that a language is a dialect with an army and navy"