@ Games & Playing @ Literature #4 :: playing fast and loose and SHAKINGhisSPEARE again

Loues Labour's lost

by William Shakespeare

(Actus Primus.)

Clow. Let mee not bee pent vp sir, I will fast being loose

Boy. No sir, that were fast and loose: thou shalt to prison

...

(Actus Tertius.)

Clo. ...To sell a bargaine well is as cunning as fast and loose

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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.