Play into (someone’s) hands

Play into (someone’s) hands

Now I’m going to show you what it means to play into someone’s hands. We use this phrase when there are two rivals ; they are in a competition. And in a strategic competition, you sometimes want the other side to do something. You want them to do something, so that you can take further advantage later.

So let’s say you’re playing chess . You can move a pawn —a relatively unimportant piece—you can move a pawn to a place where your opponent can easily capture it . You want your opponent to capture that pawn. Why? Because you want your opponent to move a valuable piece into that square.

Now let’s say your opponent falls for your trick and he takes the pawn, just like you wanted him to do. He has played into your hands. Because now you are set up to take his bishop or his rook , or whatever. He did what you wanted him to do, so that you could take advantage in the competition. He played into your hands.

So the person who plays into someone’s hands—that person is the loser in the interaction .

Here’s a situation. You apply for a job , and the employer wants to hire you . Great! Now the HR office just has a quick question for you, really just a formality , not a big deal, just answer this one thing, then we can wrap this all up , can you just tell us your current salary ? Oh sure, you say, no problem, here you go—and you tell them. If you do that, you are playing into their hands.

They want to know the number, so that they can make you an offer that’s best for them. If you tell them your current salary , then you’re giving the other side the advantage . You’re playing into their hands.

In today’s story, we talked about Joe Biden’s re-election campaign , and some of the challenges he faces. The man is about to turn 81 years old. Biden doesn’t spend much time at huge rallies. He doesn’t shake a lot of voters’ hands. He can’t jump up onto a stage like he once could.

Trump is only three years younger than Biden, but Trump is still really good on stage. He doesn’t look 77. And Trump is pounding Biden, day in and day out , saying Biden is too old, too weak, and he is mentally unfit for office.

And I said, unless Biden starts to make more public appearances, he risks playing into Trump’s hands. He risks—meaning, the danger is—the danger is, if he doesn’t actually get out there, he might prove Trump’s point. If Biden doesn’t get out there and meet voters, if he doesn’t show some energy , if he doesn’t make his case, then what are voters going to think? They’re going to think Trump is right! They’re going to think Biden might not be up for the job.

My opinion is that if Biden doesn’t get out of his comfort zone , if he doesn’t start interacting more with real people, then he will play into Trump’s hands. He will hand Trump a win on the issue of age .

New topic. I don’t understand soccer—I don’t understand the tactics or the terminology . But as I was scanning the headlines for “play into someone’s hands,” I saw a lot of soccer examples.

So I’m just going to read you a sentence; I have no idea what this means. Here we go: “Milan’s tactics played into the hands of Inter, as Inter didn’t have to change their formation to pick up the players.”

No clue what that means…just that Milan did what Inter wanted in the competition, and Inter benefited from it. Milan played into Inter’s hands.

See you next time!

And that’s all for today’s Plain English. Now, if you are a soccer fan, you have a great opportunity . If you’re a member of Plain English Plus+, then you know that right below the transcript, there is a practice area. And you can practice writing your own sentences with “play into someone’s hands.” And I will read the examples and give you feedback on your writing, just like I always do. If you’re a member, you already know that’s one of the benefits of being a Plus+ member.

Anyway, your opportunity is to write as many soccer-related examples as possible, so that I can start to understand a little more. If you’re not a soccer fan, that’s okay; you can write an example about anything you want. But if you know about soccer, I would challenge you to write an example of “play into someone’s hands” about that topic.

Coming up on Thursday’s Plain English: Taylor Swift and American football are getting serious. See you then.