# To be fair, to be fair (to her,  to him,  to them)/ fair play to (her&c)



## rupertbrooke

First idiom example:- After Madonna's tumble, ITV have sacked the stage designer. Apparently, the boards were too far apart and she fell in the groove. *Fair play to her,* though. Nearly 60 and still does her own stunts. And for '*to be fair*':- 1. You're watching a film that is completely pointless. Person A: "This movie sucks." Person B: "*To be fair, i*t makes me laugh/it has some funny parts." 2. Your root mate is telling you about how your mean neıghbour was making fun of your other neighbour for only having finished 3rd grade. Room mate: "Bob is so mean! He made fun of Sue for only finishing third grade!" You: "*To be fair, *education nowadays is readily available. There's no reason she couldn't have continued her education." These idioms overlap & it is difficult to separate their usages. '*To be fair' *is a phrase which should mean something but rarely does when it's used by sports players - especially British soccer players - and radio/TV commentators. You think the speaker is about to offer a balanced point of view - e.g. "I know I'm critical of X, but, *to be fair*, he is recovering from a bad injury", but most times, they're just trotting out the same dumb platitudes to fill airtime. Perhaps ınterchangeable with "at the end of the day" and "as I say". '*To be fair,* it is a Wednesday.' '*To* *be fair*, as I say, I'm talking into a microphone at the end of the day'. Sometimes, it is *'in fairness*' or *'in all fairness*'.
I'm sure no native speaker of Turkish would say *adil tutumla / adil olmak gerekirse / adalet içinde*
or 
*Hakkını  vermek lazım*
The words are again fillers. Are there equivalent Turkish ones in this sort of context?


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## Rallino

> I'm sure no native speaker of Turkish would say *adil tutumla / adil olmak gerekirse / adalet içinde*


I would never use any of these. Not even when writing. (But that's just me).



> or
> *Hakkını  vermek lazım*


Yes, this is good. But in my opinion, this only works for your example 1. "Bu film rezalet. Ama hakkını verelim; güldürmedi değil hani."

For the rest, I would use the expression: "*Eğri oturup doğru konuşmak lazım*".

This is an established expression. Literally, it means: "Let's sit tilted, but talk straight." (Sitting tilted is a reference to tilting your body towards someone so as to whisper something to them, maybe to gossip, like this. And "talking straight" is a reference to telling the truth. "Eğri" and "Doğru" are sort of opposites.)


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## rupertbrooke

A fascinating idiom, Rallino. Thanks so much. Worth memorising. Is it a filler wıth a similar meaning to laf/söz aramızda (between you and me)/ aramızda (between you and me)? What is its exact nuance in conversation?


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## algomir

You could also say these fillers
Doğrusu
Doğrusunu söylemek gerekirse
Dürüst olmak gerekirse

All means 'to be fair'.

Examples; 
X'in performansını çok eleştiriyorum ama dürüst olmak gerekirse ağır bir sakatlıktan yeni çıktı
Y'ye ilk başta pek güvenmemiştim ama doğrusu yaptıklarıyla beni çok şaşırttı


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## memorable

"Açık olmak gerekirse..." is another alternative.


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## kalamazoo

I have the impression that these 'fair' expressions are more used in British English than in American English.


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## rupertbrooke

That's probably true, Kalamazoo. Are they as common in Turkish as in British English?


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