fair play

See also: fairplay, Fairplay, fair-play, Fair play, and Fair Play

English

Noun

fair play (uncountable)

1. Good behavior; conduct (in sports or another endeavor) that is respectful of the rules, the spirit of the activity, and the adversary.
   • 1963, Dwight Eisenhower, Mandate for Change 1953-1956‎^[1], Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 46:

     The result, eventually, was the conviction of Mr. Hiss on charges of perjury. But the feature that especially appealed to me was the reputation that Congressman Nixon had achieved for fairness in the investigating process. Not once had he overstepped the limits prescribed by the American sense of fair play or American rules applying to such investigations. He did not persecute or defame.

   • 2017 January 18, Sid Lowe, “Chaos at Mestalla: Valencia's journey from Champions League to utter disarray”, in the Guardian‎^[2]:

     Financial fair play – talked about as if it is somehow nothing to do with the way the club is run, an imposition upon their work rather than a consequence of the way they work – meant that they could not spend what they do not generate.

Related terms

• play fair
• turnabout is fair play

Translations

good behavior

• Arabic: لَعْب عَادِل‎ m (laʕb ʕādil)
• Bulgarian: честна игра f (čestna igra)
• French: fair-play (fr) m, franc-jeu (fr) m, fairplay (fr) m
• Galician: xogo limpo m
• German: Fair Play (de) n, Fairplay (de) n
• Greek: ευ αγωνίζεσθαι (ev agonízesthai), φερ-πλέυ (fer-pléy), φερ πλέυ (fer pléy)
• Hungarian: tisztesség (hu), korrektség (hu), fair play (hu)
• Indonesian: saling menghormati
• Irish: cothrom na Féinne
• Japanese: フェアプレー (fea purē)
• Korean: 페어플레이 (peeopeullei)
• Kyrgyz: калыс оюн (ky) (kalıs oyun)
• Macedonian: фер игра m (fer igra), ферплеј m (ferplej), фер плеј m (fer plej)
• Norman: fèrre-pliaie m
• Polish: fair play (pl) n
• Portuguese: jogo limpo m, fair play (pt) m (in sports)
• Romanian: fairplay (ro) n
• Russian: игра́ по пра́вилам f (igrá po právilam), че́стная игра́ f (čéstnaja igrá)
• Scottish Gaelic: cothrom na Fèinne m
• Spanish: juego limpio m
• Swedish: rent spel, fair play (sv)
• Welsh: chwarae teg m

Phrase

fair play

1. (colloquial, UK, Ireland) used to acknowledge or congratulate for something.
   • 1964, Charles Norman De Courcy-Parry, Here lies my story‎^[3], page 248:

     [S]he consolidated her position by purchasing the kennels, doing them up regardless of expense and buying two new horses, and, fair play to her, fair play, as they say in Wales, ...

   • 1990 July 1, Joe Saward, quoting Martin Donnelly, “Interview: Martin Donnelly”, in The Business of Motorsport Newsletter‎^[4], archived from the original on 16 October 2017:

     "Fair play to Jean, he has made it work for him."

   • 1994 June 21, Liam Hayes, “GAA's holding its own now, but could lose in the end”, in Irish Voice‎^[5], archived from the original on 21 April 2016:

     The Gaelic Athletic Association, fair play to them, want absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with that thingumajig football tournament in America.

   • 2002 October 30, "Acquiesce", “Re: noel and chris at fair play gig”, in alt.music.oasis‎^[6] (Usenet):

     I wasn't expecting much of Ms Dynamite at the start of the night, but fair play to her, she's got a great voice on her.

   • 2010 May 7, “Clayton sure buoyant Reds are up to the task of seeing off Fleetwood”, in Derby Evening Telegraph‎^[7]:

     Liam Watson: "Fair play to Southport, they were the best team on paper because they got the most points. We just want to prove we are as good as them".

See also

• good for you
• good on you
• tip one's hat

Anagrams

• Playfair, play fair

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English fair play.

Noun

fair play m (invariable)

1. fair play

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English fair play.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛr plɛj/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

fair play (not comparable)

1. (of a player, sports) fair-play (fair and abiding by the rules of the game)
2. (of a game, sports) fair-play (compatible with the rules)

Adverb

fair play (not comparable)

1. (sports) fair-play (fairly and abiding by the rules of the game)

Noun

fair play n (indeclinable)

1. (sports) fair play (conduct that is respectful of the rules)
2. (by extension, figuratively) fair play (good behavior in life)

Further reading

• fair play in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• fair play in Polish dictionaries at PWN