Fair play is following both the rules and the spirit behind them. Winning in a way you could describe afterwards.
Sport gave the phrase its home, and a fair play award exists in most competitions for exactly the behaviour rules cannot compel. British English uses it more widely as an expression of grudging credit, since saying fair play to him means acknowledging somebody did well, often after you had doubted them. The opposite is foul play, which in a criminal context means something considerably darker.
1nounfair playHonourable conduct that respects the rules and their spirit.
“There is still such a thing as fair play.”
Practised in A Man Called Ove, Games & Toys
First appears in chapter 16 of A Man Called Ove.
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