thumb on the scale
Cheating the measurement
To put one's thumb on the scale is to unfairly influence an outcome, from the image of a dishonest merchant pressing down to make goods weigh more than they do: The committee put its thumb on the scale by changing the rules mid-process.
The phrase implies subtle manipulation rather than outright cheating—tilting things in one's favor while maintaining an appearance of fairness.
- tamperInterfere harmfully
- imbalanceLack of proportion
- stacking the deckArranging cards dishonestly beforehand
- favoritismPreferential treatment of some
- skewTwist from straight
cherry-picking · moving the goalposts · dishonesty · gerrymandering · cooking the books · creative accounting · tilt · deception · rigging · manipulation · misrepresentation · falsification · partiality · mismeasure · bias · weighing · trickery · duplicity
thumb on the scalelevel playing field
Equal competitive conditions
fair shake · fair play · even-handed · objectivity · fair and square
thumb on the scalefull disclosure
Withholding no information
transparency · cards on the table · open book · plain dealing · candor
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