@ Games & Playing @ Literature #3 :: France. The FRENCH KING'S camp :: Play fast and loose with faith?

William Shakespeare

King John

("It is believed to have been written in the mid-1590s but was not published until it appeared in the First Folio in 1623.")

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* Play fast and loose

Etymology

From the con game Fast-and-loose, a cheating game played with a stick and a belt or string, so arranged that a spectator would think he could make the latter fast by placing a stick through its intricate folds, whereas the operator could detach it at once.

Verb

play fast and loose

• (idiomatic) To ignore proper behavior or social conventions, especially when it suits one's purpose.

• (idiomatic) To be recklessly inaccurate, inappropriate, or otherwise ignoring guidelines and conventions.