Dictionary

change the game en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈt͡ʃeɪn(d͡)ʒ ðə ˈɡeɪm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio
• (General-American) audio
• /ˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ ðə ˈɡeɪm/ (General-American)

Etymology

Probably from the ability of a player of a team sport who has been brought on to the field as substitute to alter the outcome of the game.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To revolutionize a field of endeavor.
   • “Crazy Rich Asians” simply changes the game. It shows that minorities don’t need Spandexed suits or powers to be bankable (though one could argue that the comedic team of Ken Jeong and Awkwafina are superheroes in their own right). They can be glamorous and sassy and intimidating and genuine – and still relate to virtually all audiences. 2018 August 20, Rebecca Rubin, “Can ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Save the Rom-Com by Embracing Diversity?”, in Variety, archived from the original on 24 Aug 2018:
   • Four years before Fury Road, the Welsh director Gareth Evans made the berserker Indonesian fight movie The Raid: Redemption, changing the game by reducing the action movie to its simplest elements, telling it with visceral style. 2017 December 1, Tom Breihan, “Mad Max: Fury Road Might Already be the Best Action Movie Ever Made”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 22 Feb 2018:
   • Brave and resourceful, creative and effective, will be the hallmarks of the transformative CEO. For the transformative CEO has no choice but to change the game, and to change the game forever. 2012, Jeffrey J. Fox, Robert Reiss, quoting Arkadi Kuhlmann, “On Transformative CEOs”, in The Transformative CEO: Impact Lessons from Industry Game Changers, New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Companies, →ISBN, page 5:
   • Today, Moore is in transition from a communications-product company to an information-management company, selling information-management systems— […] How has this changed the game for Moore salespeople? 1988, Larry Wilson, Hersch Wilson, “The Rules of the New Game”, in Changing the Game: The New Way to Sell (Fireside Book), New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, part I (The Changing Game of Selling), pages 73–74:
   • “If we were able to get a really high vaccination rate, that changes the game completely,” said Hassan Vally, an associate professor in epidemiology at La Trobe University in Melbourne. 2021 June 29, Adam Liptak, quoting Hassan Vally, “Covid Live Updates: Concern over the Delta variant triggers lockdowns in Asian and Pacific countries”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Forms

Relateds

game-changing · game changer

Translations (6)

fi muuttaa tilanne (to revolutionize a field of endeavor) · pl zrewolucjonizować (to revolutionize a field of endeavor) · pl rewolucjonizować (to revolutionize a field of endeavor) · cs zvrátit hru (to revolutionize a field of endeavor) · fi mullistaa (to revolutionize a field of endeavor) · fr changer la donne (to revolutionize a field of endeavor)