play the ball and not the man イディオム

a kept woman

a woman who is paid to live with a man I'm tired of being a kept woman. I want to be free of him.

a man of few words

"a man who says little; who uses few words" Chung is a man of few words, but when he speaks, people listen.

a man of the cloth

a minister, a priest, a clergyman Being a man of the cloth, he has studied the Bible.

a marked man

a person known for political beliefs or criminal acts When they discovered I had been a Nazi, I was a marked man.

bottle man

a man who finds bottles in garbage cans or dumpsters The bottle man walked down the alley pushing a cart full of junk.

chain of command

order of those in power, line of authority If you are a lieutenant, the chain of command goes up and down.

chairman of the boards (hockey)

a player who controls play along the boards In the 1970s Doug was chairman of the boards for the Hawks.

company man

a person who always works hard and agrees with his employees My father was a true company man and was always putting in an extra effort for his company.

crack shot/salesman etc.

a person who is highly skilled at shooting etc. Marvin has developed into a crack salesman. He's excellent.

dog in the manger

a person who will not share something he does not use or need He's a dog in the manger about his office space. He doesn't use it, but he won't let us have it.

play the brawl and not the man

1. In sports, to accompany the brawl back it is in an opposing player's possession, rather than authoritative concrete acquaintance with the player. Our drillmaster is consistently babble at us to comedy the brawl and not the man because accidental fouls drive him nuts.2. By extension, to accomplish an altercation or altercation after agreeable in claimed attacks. Whoa, alike if you don't like his art, you don't accept to criticize him as a person. Comedy the brawl and not the man. A: "I anticipate he's a complete moron." B: "Yeah, well, comedy the brawl and not the man. What about his altercation makes you feel that way?"Learn more: and, ball, man, not, play

Dictionary

More Idioms/Phrases

do your utmost do yourself proud dodge a bullet doesn't add up doesn't mince words doesn't wash dog days of summer dog eat dog dog in the manger dog it dog me dog's age dog's breakfast dog's life dog tired doggone doll up play out play out of (one's) skin play over play phone tag play pocket pool play politics play possum play possum, to play Russian roulette play safe play second fiddle play second fiddle to play second fiddle to (someone) play second fiddle, to play silly buggers play somebody's game play someone at their own game play someone false play someone for a fool play someone's game play something by ear play something for laughs play straight play telephone tag play the (something) card play the ball and not the man play the card play the devil with play the devil with (something) play the devil with someone/something play the dozens play the field play the field, to play the fool play the game play the game, to play the gender card play the goat play the hand (one) is dealt play the heavy play the heavy, to play the horses play the man and not the ball play the market play the papers play the percentage game play the percentages play the ponies play the race card play the waiting game play three-dimensional chess