play [OE] In Old English plegan or plegian meant ‘to exercise’, while plega meant ‘brisk movement or activity’, and could also be used to describe a dramatic performance on stage. These are the first uses of play. Today terms such as swordplay and gunplay preserve the old ‘brisk movement’ sense of the noun. To play with fire is to take foolish risks with something potentially dangerous. The proverb if you play with fire you get burned dates from the late 17th century, though a similar sentiment is expressed from Middle English. Play it again, Sam is a popular misquotation from the film Casablanca (1942). Although these precise words are never actually spoken in the film, Humphrey Bogart does say ‘If she can stand it, I can. Play it!’, and earlier in the film Ingrid Bergman says ‘Play it, Sam. Play “As Time Goes By”.’ The US magazine Playboy was founded in 1953 by Hugh Hefner. A playboy was at first, back in 1616, a boy actor. The modern sense, ‘an irresponsible pleasure-seeking man’, started in Ireland, and is first recorded in the 1820s.