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Comment by Theodores | Hacker News Reader

> "chinese whispers"

Does anyone have a better phrase for this?

A Chinese workmate called me out for using that phrase in his presence. Until then I had used the phrase since childhood without thinking that there were connotations and with nobody complaining. However, after that one fateful conversation I did see that my language could be improved. But how?

Does anyone have a concise alternative that conveys the same thing without implying anything about how Chinese people communicate in whispers, to get things wrong?

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I had never even heard the phrase until this thread. A quick google/wikipedia shows me it's the British term for what we in the US call "telephone". I guess I learned something new today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_whispers#Etymology

> As the game is popular among children worldwide, it is also known under various other names depending on locality, such as Russian scandal,[3] whisper down the lane, broken telephone, operator, grapevine, gossip, don't drink the milk, secret message, the messenger game, and pass the message among others.[1] In France, it is called téléphone arabe (Arabic telephone) or téléphone sans fil (wireless telephone).[4][better source needed] In Malaysia, this game is commonly referred to as telefon rosak, which translates to broken telephone. In the United States, the game is known under the name telephone – which in this use is never shortened to the colloquial and more common word phone.

Not a native speaker: Does it have additional meaning to the reference to the children's game where everyone whispers to their neighbor, passing a message along? If not, isn't that also known as the "telephone game"?

I was going to reply "I don't know, it's all Greek to me" but then decided that was not a good idea. So, [0] says

> Chinese whispers is the British term for what is known as the telephone game in the United States

and then lists several other names for the same game. I've also met people who when discussing confusing messages say "send three and fourpence, we're going to a dance", which is a result of 'Chinese whispers' being applied to the input "send reinforcements, we're going to advance". The reference to the pre-decimal coinage ('three and fourpence', i.e. three shillings and four pence, approx £0.17) in this old phrase shows how long the concept has been around in British English (we decimalised in 1971).

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_whispers

In France it is the "Arab telephone" !

"Pass the message" or just "whispering game" seems to be the same.

The Telephone Game is not common parlance in British English, just American English. So a better phrase is sought than that to convey the idea.

I suspect there is no common phrase. Chinese whispers isn't common parlance in american english.

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