What does “fair game” mean?
fair game
Oh, this one's really useful!
So "fair game" originally comes from hunting — if an animal was "fair game," it was legal and okay to hunt it. That's the literal idea: something you're allowed to go after.
But today we use it to mean something or someone that's totally acceptable to criticize, joke about, or target. Like, if a celebrity posts their opinion online, people might say "they put it out there, so they're fair game" — meaning it's fine for others to respond or push back.
Or imagine your friend burns you in front of everyone — you might say "okay, now you're fair game!" meaning you're going to tease them right back and that's perfectly fine.
Basically, "fair game" means: this is something we're all allowed to go after, no rules broken.
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