Play fair?

[Allen165]

Isn't the expression "play fair" ungrammatical? Shouldn't it be "play fairly"? I'm guessing the reason "play fair" is so widely used is that it simply sounds better than "play fairly."

Thanks.

 

[billmcd]

Your guess is correct. Right or wrong, popular usage rules.

 

[Nightmare85]

I disagree, although I'm not 100% sure.
As far as I know fairly has its own meaning.
You can use it synonymical to pretty.
I speak English pretty well.
I speak English fairly well.

I'm 90% sure that "Play fair" is fully okay...

P.S: We all know that not every adverb needs an -ly

**Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.**

Cheers!

 

[euncu]

You can use it synonymical to pretty.
I speak English pretty well.
I speak English fairly well.

I think you confuse fairly as in being just with fairly as a statement of quantity.

 

[Nightmare85]

Hmm... one of my dictionaries says that fair is both an adjective and an adverb:
dict.cc | fair | Wrterbuch Englisch-Deutsch
(And the German version of fair is adv and adj.)

But maybe they stick to the fair because it sounds better, as already said...
Same as "play badly" -> you will not hear it as often as "play bad", I guess.

Off-topic: Cool new avatar :up:

Cheers!

 

[euncu]

But maybe they stick to the fair because it sounds better, as already said...
Same as "play badly" -> you will not hear it as often as "play bad", I guess.

Off-topic: Cool new avatar :up:

Thanks. Change is always good.

By the way, as I know it; play fair X play dirty

 

[Tdol]

'Fair' is given as an adverb in some dictionaries:
Main Entry: fair
Function: adverb
Date: before 12th century
1 : in a fair manner <play fair>
2 chiefly British : fairly 3 <fair makes you want to cry>
Fair - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

ADVERB:
In a proper or legal manner: playing fair.
Directly; straight: a blow caught fair in the stomach. (AHD)
fair - Dictionary definition and pronunciation - Yahoo! Education

 

[konungursvia]

To me and perhaps other North Americans, "play fair" also sounds correct because it makes us think of "play while being fair" or some such copula.