Play fast and loose

96. Play fast and loose

Tradução: Agir com irresponsabilidade

Significado: Brincar com coisa séria

Fonte: King John, Ato III, cena 1

King Philip: And shall these hands, so lately purged of blood,
So newly join'd in love, so strong in both,
Unyoke this seizure and this kind regret?
Play fast and loose with faith?

Rei Philip: E estas mãos, há tão pouco tempo purificadas pelo sangue,

E unidas pelo amor, que é tão forte em ambos,

Deverão desatar estes laços, abrir mão desta reconciliação,

E brincar com a fé?

Exemplo moderno: The RMCP play fast and loose with gun registry

Did the Mounties defy Parliament and keep gun registry data intact even after being ordered, by law, to delete it in 2012? And did Deputy Commissioner Peter Henschel subsequently lie to a Parliamentary committee in June of 2015 by claiming registry data had been erased when, in fact, it hadn’t?

I don’t think the RCMP broke the law or that Henschel outright lied. But – how to say this? – neither was fully forthcoming with the truth.

If the force and the deputy commissioner did not violate the letter of the Ending the Long-gun Registry Act, they at least played fast-and-loose with the law’s spirit. (Toronto Sun, 27July, 2017))