🗓️ Idiom: Play It Cool (v)
💬 Meaning
- To stay calm and not show strong emotion, especially in a difficult or risky situation.
- To act relaxed and in control to avoid making a situation worse.
🧠 Example Sentences
- During the intense meeting, she played it cool and let the others talk first.
- Even though he was nervous, he played it cool and answered the investor’s questions calmly.
- You need to play it cool when negotiating. Don’t show how badly you want the deal.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from slang in the early 1900s, especially in jazz and pop culture. “Cool” meant calm, relaxed, and confident. “Play it cool” became a way to describe someone acting calm and collected in a situation that could be stressful.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Even though the project was behind schedule, he decided to __________ and not panic.
Answer
play it cool
2. Choose the correct meaning of “playing it cool”:
A) Acting nervous
B) Showing frustration
C) Staying calm and not showing strong emotions
Answer
C) Staying calm and not showing strong emotions
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“She stayed calm and didn’t show how stressed she was.” → Change the sentence using: play it cool
Answer
She played it cool and didn’t show how stressed she was.