gentleman's agreement

• gentlemen's agreement

gentleman's agreement (plural gentleman's agreements or gentlemen's agreements)

1. A usually unwritten agreement not bound by law but by honour.
   • 2001, John E. Dreifort, Baseball History from Outside the Lines, U of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, page 62:

     The National League, for instance, adopted a “gentleman's agreement” that effectively excluded black players.

   • 2002, Gene Fowler, Bill Crawford, Border Radio, University of Texas Press, →ISBN, page 223:

     It was decided that a further gentleman's agreement was needed between the United States and Mexico to eliminate, in the words of the American ambassador's office in Mexico City, “interference from Mexican broadcasting stations along the Mexican border at Villa Acuña, Nuevo Laredo, and Reynosa.”

• → Polish: dżentelmeńska umowa (calque)

• shake on it
• sportsman's bet