11th commandment

English

Alternative forms

11th Commandment
eleventh commandment
Eleventh Commandment

Etymology

In reference to the biblical Ten Commandments, carrying the implication that the convention is of very high importance (similar to the Ten Commandments).

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Noun

11th commandment (plural 11th commandments)

(idiomatic) A well-known convention (often the most well-known of a certain field) which supposedly can not or should not be broken.
- 2016 September 29, Locke, Cathy, “Philosopher Cornel West calls honesty, integrity ‘countercultural’”, in The Sacramento Bee‎, archived from the original on 30 September 2018:
  A “hood,” he said, isn’t necessarily a neighborhood, adding that the same culture is seen on Wall Street, “where the 11th commandment is ‘Thou shalt not get caught.’ ”
- 2018 September 8, Campbell, Duncan, “After the Hatton Garden heist: 'The actors will profit more than the criminals'”, in The Guardian‎, archived from the original on 30 September 2018:
  Some of the accused did not know Basil’s real identity; the others stuck by the old-school criminal’s 11th commandment, “Thou shalt not grass.”

Usage notes

The "commandment" to which is referred often includes "thou shalt not," or similar phrases, in imitation of the biblical Commandments.