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Glite Dictionary
Vegas rule

Vegas rule

8.7
An informal rule that people do not tell others about things that happen on a trip
  • noun
  • Informal
translation icon : regla de Vegas
  • Under the Vegas rule, their embarrassing karaoke performances were just between them.

Examples

  • They all agreed to follow the Vegas rule and never mention the party again.

  • She joked that the Vegas rule applies whenever her friends go on vacation together.

  • Remember the Vegas rule when we go out tonight.

  • You must follow the Vegas rules during our trip.

  • They all agreed to follow the Vegas rule and never mention the party again.

  • Under the Vegas rule, their embarrassing karaoke performances were just between them.

  • She joked that the Vegas rule applies whenever her friends go on vacation together.

Surface Forms

Vegas rule singular
Vegas rules plural

Morphology

Vegas + rule

The phrase combines the place-name 'Vegas' with the noun 'rule', so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a rule associated with Las Vegas. However, the specific normative content (the cultural idiom that events there should not be shared elsewhere) relies on cultural/idiomatic knowledge and is not fully predictable from the constituents alone, making it only partly transparent.

Etymology

Vegas rule comes from the famous saying 'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas', which imagines Vegas as a place for wild, private nights. So the Vegas rule means 'don't tell anyone outside' about what happened there.