just a game
42
4.1
- idiom
- This is just a game to you, isn't it?
- it's all just a game
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Watch on YouTubeBut playing this type of game is just a game.
- But playing this type of game is just a game.
- So the third thing you should never tell a man is it's just a game.
- But back then, corruption was just a game to them.
- But Trump did reveal powerfully, I don't know what to think of it, that it's just a game and you don't have to play by the rules.
- And like, do you do you really think about it in depth, you know, or is it just a game?
- I really just feel like at the end of the day, chess is just a game, but it is a game played by millions of people throughout history.
- What the stock market is in some sense is a way of channeling this kind of behavior into something productive instead of just a game.
- And for the cats, it really is just just a game that they're playing for the human beings is deadly serious.
- I guess if it if the angle is if the angle is it's just a game, like who cares then I guess like then, yeah.
- And so it's just a game, I guess as a game, why not failure legit.
- Like when you say, like when you say it's just a game, I feel like that is the most exciting thing.
Examples
-
Hey, it's just a game, right?
Blog text (25) -
Thanks for the reality check; football is just a game, after all.
Blog text (32) -
"Good luck, and remember, "it's just a game."
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Was it not just a game?
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Relax man, it's just a game.
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That was just a game, okay?
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"It's just a game," said Kelly.
Fiction book (1990) -
- Oh lighten up, it's just a game.
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It's just a game.
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It's important to remember that it's just a game and not worth getting upset over.
Synonyms
Antonyms
How Serious
∞
3.1
72
3.0
∞
1.4
10
3.2
42
4.1
- Informal
20
8.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'not to be taken too seriously' is directly and transparently built from 'just' (only) + 'a' (article, semantically neutral) + 'game' (an activity), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer the downplaying sense. This is a straightforward compositional pattern found cross-linguistically for minimizing importance, making the expression immediately comprehensible.
Etymology
The phrase just a game comes from sports and children's play, where a game is only rules and fun, not real life. So when people say just a game, they mean 'don't take it too seriously'.