bend the rules
verbEtymology A metaphor where, instead of breaking the rules, the rules are only being "bent", lessening the effect.
1
To do something that is not normally allowed but is also not explicitly prohibited.
- Such a mechanism could preserve individuals with mainly prosocial inclinations by enabling them to bend the rules in minor ways without suffering from guilt and without losing out in competition with free-riders.2008, Robert A. Hinde, Bending the Rules: The Flexibility of Absolutes in Modern Life, →ISBN: