{"id":1141,"date":"2022-03-06T18:13:14","date_gmt":"2022-03-06T18:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=1141"},"modified":"2022-03-06T18:13:14","modified_gmt":"2022-03-06T18:13:14","slug":"all-is-fair-in-love-and-war-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/all-is-fair-in-love-and-war-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"All is Fair in Love and War - Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Did your friend just tell you that she\u00a0started a relationship with your boyfriend? During the shock of hearing them tell you that, you're likely to ask them\u00a0why they would do that. They reply with \"<em>all is fair in love and war<\/em>,\" but what does that mean?<\/p>\n<p>This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this idiomatic phrase.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The meaning of \"<em>all is fair in love and war<\/em>\" means that if you have\u00a0strong feelings of love for another person, you will do whatever it takes to start a relationship with them. It can also mean that a\u00a0couple is going through a heated divorce\u00a0where they are\u00a0fighting over the distribution of assets or children.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In war,\u00a0countries will use military tactics that help them obtain their objective. They may use tactics, such as\u00a0chemical weapons and nuclear arms, that severely damage other nations' soldiers and populations, but \"<em>all is fair in love and war<\/em>.\"<\/p>\n<p>So, when you're using \"<em>all is fair in love and war<\/em>,\" you're describing that you'll\u00a0go to any length\u00a0to\u00a0achieve the goal you have in mind for your relationship. You'll happily\u00a0commit underhanded tactics to get what you want out of the relationship.<\/p>\n<h2>Example Usage<\/h2>\n<p>\"My ex is taking the house and assets and leaving me we nothing because I didn't sign a prenup. Well,\u00a0<em>all is fair in love and war<\/em>, I guess.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"I'm going out with Chloe tonight; I bet her boyfriend doesn't have any clue.\u00a0<em>All is fair in love and war<\/em>.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"Mike also has a thing for Kim, and I'm going to make sure she goes out with me and not him. I've been talking bad about him all week to her. All<em>\u00a0is fair in love and war<\/em>.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"She didn't tell him about her past because she didn't want to freak him out.\u00a0<em>All is fair in love and war<\/em>, I guess.\"<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1142\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/All-is-Fair-in-Love-and-War-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/All-is-Fair-in-Love-and-War-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/All-is-Fair-in-Love-and-War.jpg 359w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Origin<\/h2>\n<p>The phrase \"<em>all is fair in love and war<\/em>\" traces back to the novel \"<em>Frank Fairlegh<\/em>,\"\u00a0authored by Frank E. Smedley in 1850. The term appeared in its original format and\u00a0retained its meaning in modern language.<\/p>\n<p>The word \"<em>love<\/em>\" associated\u00a0trickery and lawlessness,\u00a0extending back to 1578.\u00a0We find similar phrases in\u00a0Tom Sheldon's 1620 translation\u00a0of\u00a0<em>Miguel de Cervantes'<\/em>\u00a0work, \"<em>Don Quixote II<\/em>.\" The term also appears in the novel \"<em>Smuggler II<\/em>,\"\u00a0authored by G.P.R. James in 1845.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"All Is Fair in Love and War\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ouKz3KMqLyo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Phrases Similar to All is Fair in Love and War<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Do what you gotta do.<\/li>\n<li>The war of the roses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Phrases Opposite to All is Fair in Love and War<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Fair play.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>All is fair in love and war.<\/li>\n<li>All's fair in love and war.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Ways People May Say All is Fair in Love and War Incorrectly<\/h2>\n<p>Some people may\u00a0use the phrase to describe war. However,\u00a0the term doesn't refer to military engagements or conflicts. It refers to people's underhanded actions\u00a0when separating from their partners.<\/p>\n<h2>Acceptable Ways to Phrase All is Fair in Love and War<\/h2>\n<p>You can use the phrase, \"<em>all is fair in love and war<\/em>,\" when you're trying to justify over-the-top actions that\u00a0might offend another party or do them physical or emotional harm. If you're involved in\u00a0divorce proceedings with your ex, you could use\u00a0strategies that they find shocking to preserve your estate.<\/p>\n<p>When they\u00a0confront you about your transgressions, you can reply with, \"<em>all is fair in love and war<\/em>.\" You can also use the phrase to\u00a0describe situations and tactics where you are stealing another person's partner from them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2\">Did your friend just tell you that she\u00a0started a relationship with your boyfriend? During the shock of hearing them tell you that, you're likely to ask them\u00a0why they would do that. They reply with \"all is fair in love and war,\" but what does that mean? This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1141"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2359,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions\/2359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}