🗓️ Idiom: Play by the Rules (v)
💬 Meaning
- Follow the rules or laws of a situation
- Act in a fair or legal way, especially in business or official matters
🧠 Example Sentences
- In this industry, if you don’t play by the rules, you risk losing your license.
- The new manager insists that everyone plays by the rules — no exceptions.
- When working with government contracts, we must always play by the rules to avoid fines.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from the idea of games or sports, where all players must follow the rules to keep things fair. Over time, it began to be used in business, law, and other formal settings to describe honest or legal behavior.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
To avoid trouble with the tax office, our company always __________.
Answer
plays by the rules
2. Multiple choice:
What does “play by the rules” mean?
a) Break the law to succeed
b) Follow the proper procedures
c) Make your own rules
d) Ignore official instructions
Answer
b) Follow the proper procedures
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom “play by the rules”:
The business follows all the legal and ethical guidelines.
Answer
The business plays by the rules.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
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👉 Regulation and Compliance Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
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Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
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