according to Hoyle
1
9.6
- idiom
:
según las reglas
- To ensure fairness, we conducted the election according to Hoyle, following all established procedures.
Examples
-
According to Hoyle, it made more sense for the developers at BioWare to come up with a simpler card game.
Blog text (22) -
I want to do things according to Hoyle, Dave, but...
-
And anybody who does not play out this hand strictly... ...according to Hoyle will answer to me personally.
-
Believe me when I tell you, it's in Mickey Knox's best interest to play this game according to Hoyle.
Fiction book (1994) -
They were not done according to Hoyle, to put it mildly.
Blog text (28) -
During Mass, all was according to Hoyle until the silence after communion, when it became clear that someone did not get (or did not agree with) the memo.
Blog text (4) -
The lawyer prepared the contract according to Hoyle to ensure it would stand up in court.
-
In our project meeting, we decided to proceed according to Hoyle to meet all the guidelines.
Synonyms
55
3.9
Following rules and official instructions exactly
In a way that agrees with rules or standards
Antonyms
How Conventional
- Formal
23
4.4
1
9.6
- Informal
55
3.9
7
3.9
9
3.4
- Informal
11
6.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
accord + to + Hoyle
The component 'according to' is transparently understood as 'as stated by' or 'in line with', but the conventional meaning 'following established rules' depends on cultural knowledge that 'Hoyle' is a proverbial authority on rules. A B1 learner who only knows the literal constituents would not reliably infer the specialized 'by the book / according to standard rules' sense without knowing the Hoyle reference, so the expression is only partially predictable.
Etymology
The phrase according to Hoyle comes from a man named Edmond Hoyle, who wrote a famous book of rules for card games. Because his book was seen as the correct guide, people began saying something was done according to Hoyle to mean it was done 'following the proper rules'.