Chinese whispers
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Chinese whispers
noun
-
A game for several players in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred, to humorous effect by the time it reaches the last person and is compared with the original phrase.
Some members made it clear that they were not going to participate at all, because it was the last Bullring, and brought in books to read or played games like ‘Chinese Whispers’, totally ignoring any remarks that were made.
Similar: a whisper down the lane, broken telephone, operator, pass it down, Russian scandal, telephone, telephone game
-
A situation where something is changed or misunderstood as a result of passing through successive people or processes.
The UN would rather not be associated with blowing mosques to smithereens in a part of the world where propaganda is everywhere, and information spreads like Chinese whispers.
Similar: telephone
Translations
Every language
noun game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
| Español | teléfono descompuesto, teléfono estropeado, teléfono |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 옮겨 말하기 omgyeo malhagi |
| 日本語 | 伝言ゲーム dengon gēmu |
| 中文 | 傳話遊戲 /传话游戏 chuánhuà yóuxì |
| Português | telefone sem fio, telefone estragado |
| Français | téléphone arabe |
| Deutsch | Stille Post, Flüsterpost |
| Italiano | telefono senza fili, telegrafo senza fili |
| Ελληνικά | χαλασμένο τηλέφωνο chalasméno tiléfono |
| Română | telefonul fără fir |
| Русский | испо́рченный телефо́н ispórčennyj telefón, сло́манный телефо́н slómannyj telefón, глухо́й телефо́н gluxój telefón |
| Tiếng Việt | tam sao thất bản |
| العربية | هَاتِف عَرَبِيّ hātif ʕarabiyy, هَاتِف لَاسِلْكِيّ hātif lāsilkiyy |
| עברית | טֶלֶפוֹן שָׁבוּר télefon shavúr |
Talk about this word "Chinese whispers." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/chinese%20whispers. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. Chinese whispers. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/chinese%20whispers "Chinese whispers." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/chinese%20whispers.Cite this
@misc{chinese_whispers_2026,
title = {Chinese whispers},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/chinese%20whispers},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
