Chinese whispers
Cumulative transmission errors
Chinese whispers is a game where a message is whispered from person to person, typically becoming garbled or distorted by the end: By the time the rumor reached me, it had gone through Chinese whispers and bore no resemblance to the truth.
The phrase describes any process where information degrades through successive retellings.
Called telephone in American English.
Some consider the term offensive for its implication that Chinese language or speakers cause confusion.
- wordLinguistic meaning unit
- rumorUnconfirmed circulating story
- messageTransmitted communication
- mouthOral opening
- gameOrganized play or sport
party game · telephone game · chain reaction · participant · miscommunication · hearsay · pastimes · misperception · secret · word of mouth · lost in translation · distortion · mishear · garbled · misinterpretation · circle · children · pass it on
- party gamescharades, musical statues, musical chairs, truth or dare, spin the bottle
- miscommunicationmix-up, mixed signals, confusion, mixed messages, crossed wires
- gossiprumor, rumors, gossip, hearsay, scuttlebutt
Chinese whisperswritten record
written communication · notarized document · official document · official transcript · recorded statement
Chinese whispersprimary source
Unmediated evidence from events
firsthand account · straight from the horse's mouth · official record · authoritative source · eyewitness testimony
Chinese, China, whisper, whispers, whispered, whispering, whisperer, whisperers