Play games vs. play the game

[Haihao]

Hi,

It seems to me that only a ‘the’ could make almost 180 degree difference in meaning between:

Play games and play the game

Could I suggest that ‘the game’ refers to a definite game with certain rules acknowledged by all players so as to make ‘play the game’ mean ‘to act fairly and honestly’ whereas ‘play games’ implies a sense of reckless game playing (without ‘the’) so as to ‘be evasive or deceptive’?

Could you help me out with this? Thank you.

Haihao

[Jamie_K]

I think your analysis of this is correct.

[Alan]

Hi Haihao,

Play games and play the game

There is a mixture here of reality and metaphor. Play games can simply mean what children do or what anyone does for sport. It can alsoi be used as a metaphor in the sense of not being serious about what you say or do - often used in the continuous form as in: You’re just playing games with me. I want a straight answer. A colloquial expression similar in meaning is ‘mess about’

The poet Henry Newbolt (1862-1938) wrote:

The Gatling’s jammed and the Colonel dead,
And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.
The river of death has brimmed his banks,
And England’s far, and Honour a name,
But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks:
“Play up! Play up! and play the game.”

and here the comparison is made between playing cricket and fighting a war (the First world war) a very British attitude in those days. So the expression ‘play the game’ suggests today in an oldfashioned way the exhortation to follow the rules, behave correctly.

A

[Haihao]

Thank you, Alan, for your interpretation for the idioms and an introduction of their backgrounds. They are really beneficial to me.

Haihao