play fast and loose
verb
Roget 544:
be false
etc.
adj.,
be a liar
etc.
548;
speak falsely
etc.
adv.;
tell a lie
etc.
546;
lie,
fib;
lie like a trooper;
swear false,
forswear,
perjure oneself,
bear false witness.
misstate,
misquote,
miscite†,
misreport,
misrepresent;
belie,
falsify,
pervert,
distort;
put a false construction upon
etc.
(misinterpret);
prevaricate,
equivocate,
quibble;
palter,
palter to the understanding;
repondre en Normand [Fr.];
trim,
shuffle,
fence,
mince the truth,
beat about the bush,
blow hot and cold,
play fast and loose.
garble,
gloss over,
disguise,
give a color to;
give a gloss,
put a gloss,
put false coloring upon;
color,
varnish,
cook,
dress up,
embroider;
varnish right and puzzle wrong;
exaggerate
etc.
549;
blague†.
invent,
fabricate;
trump up,
get up;
force,
fake,
hatch,
concoct;
romance
etc.
(imagine)
515;
cry 'wolf!'.
dissemble,
dissimulate;
feign,
assume,
put on,
pretend,
make believe;
play possum;
play false,
play a double game;
coquet;
act a part,
play a part;
affect
etc.
855;
simulate,
pass off for;
counterfeit,
sham,
make a show of;
malinger;
say the grapes are sour.
cant,
play the hypocrite,
sham Abraham,
faire pattes de velours,
put on the mask,
clean the outside of the platter,
lie like a conjuror;
hand out false colors,
hold out false colors,
sail under false colors;
commend the poisoned chalice to the lips"
[Macbeth];
ambiguas in vulgum spargere voces [Lat.];
deceive
etc.
545.
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Roget 608:
be capricious
etc.
adj.;
have a maggot in the brain;
take it into one's head,
strain at a gnat and swallow a camel;
blow hot and cold;
play fast and loose,
play fantastic tricks;
tourner casaque [Fr.].
Roget 605:
be irresolute
etc.
adj.;
hang in suspense,
keep in suspense;
leave "ad referendum";
think twice about,
pause;
dawdle
etc.
(inactivity)
683;
remain neuter;
dillydally,
hesitate,
boggle,
hover,
dacker†,
hum and haw,
demur,
not know one's own mind;
debate,
balance;
dally with,
coquet with;
will and will not,
chaser-balancer†;
go halfway,
compromise,
make a compromise;
be thrown off one's balance,
stagger like a drunken man;
be afraid
etc.
860;
let 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would'"
[Macbeth];
falter,
waver vacillate
etc.
149;
change
etc.
140;
retract
etc.
607;
fluctuate;
pendulate†;
alternate
etc.
(oscillate)
314;
keep off and on,
play fast and loose;
blow hot and cold
etc.
(caprice)
608.
shuffle,
palter,
blink;
trim.
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Roget 477:
judge intuitively,
judge by intuition;
hazard a proposition,
hazard a guess,
talk at random.
reason ill,
falsely
etc.
adj.;
misjudge
etc.
481;
paralogize†.
take on faith,
take as a given;
assume
(supposition)
514.
pervert,
quibble;
equivocate,
mystify,
evade,
elude;
gloss over,
varnish;
misteach
etc.
538†;
mislead
etc.
(error)
495;
cavil,
refine,
subtilize†,
split hairs;
misrepresent
etc.
(lie)
544.
beg the question,
reason in a circle,
reason in circles,
assume the conclusion.
cut blocks with a razor,
beat about the bush,
play fast and loose,
play fast and loose with the facts,
blow hot and cold,
prove that black is white and white black,
travel out of the record,
parler a tort et a travers [Fr.],
put oneself out of court,
not have a leg to stand on.
judge hastily,
shoot from the hip,
jump to conclusions
(misjudgment)
481.
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Roget 607:
change one's mind,
change one's intention,
change one's purpose,
change one's note;
abjure,
renounce;
withdraw from
etc.
(relinquish)
624;
waver,
vacillate;
wheel round,
turn round,
veer round;
turn a pirouette;
go over from one side to another,
pass from one side to another,
change from one side to another,
skip from one side to another;
go to the rightabout;
box the compass,
shift one's ground,
go upon another tack.
apostatize,
change sides,
go over,
rat;
recant,
retract;
revoke;
rescind
etc.
(abrogate)
756;
recall;
forswear,
unsay;
come over,
come round to an opinion;
crawfish [U.S.],
crawl [U.S.].
draw in one's horns,
eat one's words;
eat the leek,
swallow the leek;
swerve,
flinch,
back out of,
retrace one's steps,
think better of it;
come back return to one's first love;
turn over a new leaf
etc.
(repent)
950.
trim,
shuffle,
play fast and loose,
blow hot and cold,
coquet,
be on the fence,
straddle,
bold with the hare but run with the hounds;
nager entre deux eaux [Fr.];
wait to see how the cat jumps,
wait to see how the wind blows.
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