Definition
A well-known convention (often the most well-known of a certain field) which supposedly can not or should not be broken.
Origins
In reference to the biblical Ten Commandments, carrying the implication that the convention is of very high importance (similar to the Ten Commandments).
In Context
- "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.’ ”"
- "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.”"