- Running game traditionally referred to the sport of American football. A player would execute a play to carry the ball past the opposition. Per the result of semantic shift, the expression has taken a negative meaning implying trickery to achieve an alter motive.
Run-game
verb; perjoration
To purposefully use someone to achieve a goal unbeknownst to them.
Etymology : To run can be thought of as to execute something, and game in its basic form denotes a tactical play of some sort. The blending of these words created the original meaning in the sense of American football.
Source : ‘You can’t run game on a rapper. I’m always 10 steps ahead of you.’ (November 2011 Cosmopolitan – Nikki Minaj)
Last modified: 2 December 2011