English expressions with "play"

There are lots of expressions and phrasal verbs using "play". Here are some of the more common ones:

play up = not work or behave properly: "The children keep playing up. I wish they'd behave."

play around = experiment: "We're playing around with a couple of new ideas."

play by ear = not plan something: "What are you going to tell him? I don't know – I'll just play it by ear.

play to the gallery = say or do something to gain popularity: "Talking about giving us all a pay rise – he's just playing to the gallery."

a play on words = a pun / joke relying on words: "The book title is a play on words."

play by the rules = do something fairly / according to regulations: "That's not fair! You need to play by the rules."

a play-thing = not treat something seriously: "She's just a play-thing for him. You should warn her."

a playboy = a man who has lots of girl-friends: "He's got a reputation as a bit of a play-boy."

play to win = to do something because you want to be successful: "He's very ambitious – he plays to win."

play for time = use delaying tactics: "We're playing for time until we get a better deal."

Exercise

Choose one of the phrasals or idioms to fill in the gaps.

1. Why haven't they replied to our offer yet? I think they're just ——–

2. My knee is ——–. I need to go and see the doctor.

3. If you want to join our team, you'll have to learn to ——–. We can't just do what we please here.

4. She's not acting as if he's a serious boyfriend. He's just a ——– to her.

5. I haven't planned what I'm going to say at the meeting. I'll ——–

Answers from last week's English lesson

Fill the gaps in the sentences with a linking word

1. I love the cinema, so I'm interested in knowing who's won the Oscars.

2. She listens to most music. She loves classical, but she's also a fan of jazz.

3. He's great with languages. For example, he speaks French and Italian, and is now learning German.

4. We went to Italy last year, but we didn't visit Rome.

5. I like Italy because the food is so good.