according to Hoyle

English edit

 
The title page of Hoyle's 1758 treatise on backgammon.

Etymology edit

Named after Edmond Hoyle (1672–1769), an early author on the subject of card gaming.

Pronunciation edit

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Prepositional phrase edit

according to Hoyle

  1. (idiomatic) In strict accordance with the rules, especially of card games; in the proper or expected manner.
    • 1902, Gilbert Parker, chapter 11, in Donovan Pasha and Some People of Egypt:
      This isn't a country where things are cut and dried, and done according to Hoyle.
    • 1912, Robert W. Service, “The Quitter”, in Rhymes of a Rolling Stone[1]:
      When you're lost in the Wild, and you're scared as a child, / And Death looks you bang in the eye, / And you're sore as a boil, it's according to Hoyle / To cock your revolver and . . . die.
    • 2007 February 22, Phil Axelrod, “District Spotlight: PAC men's basketball follows form”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, retrieved 8 Aug. 2008:
      The opening round of the Presidents' Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament went according to Hoyle.

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