play the man and not the ball (English, verb)
expansion: play the man and not the ball (third-person singular simple present plays the man and not the ball, present participle playing the man and not the ball, simple past and past participle played the man and not the ball)
Senses:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To attack an opponent instead of attacking the ball, which is usually being controlled by the attacked player at the time.
glosses: To object to someone's argument by attacking them or a facet of their personality instead of the argument itself; to make an ad hominem attack.
tags: broadly
colloquial
idiomatic
Forms:
form: plays the man and not the ball
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: playing the man and not the ball
tags: participle
present
form: played the man and not the ball
tags: participle
past
form: played the man and not the ball
tags: past
form: play the man
tags: alternative
form: play the man, not the ball
tags: alternative
form: play the man not the ball
tags: alternative