rules for thee, not for me
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
One applies rules to others but not to oneself
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Áp dụng quy tắc cho người khác nhưng không cho bản thân
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “rules for thee, not for me” mean?
One applies rules to others but not to oneself
Is “rules for thee, not for me” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.