Hot potato

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Hot potato is a party game that involves players gathering in a circle and tossing a small object such as a beanbag or even a soft ball to each other while music plays.[1] The player who is holding the object when the music stops is eliminated.[2]

Origins

[edit | edit source]

The origins of the hot potato game are not clear. However, it may go back as far as 1888 when Sidney Oldall Addy's Glossary of Sheffield Words describes a game in which a number of people sit in a row, or in chairs round a parlor.[3] In this game, a lit candle is handed to the first person, who says:

Jack's alive, and likely to live
If he dies in your hand, you've a forfeit to give.

The one in whose hand the light expires has to pay the forfeit.

See also

[edit | edit source]
  • Bagholder – Slang for shareholder left holding worthless stocks
  • Musical chairs – Elimination genre party game
  • Pass the parcel – British party game
  • Passing the buck – English-language idiom meaning "to shift blame onto another"
  • Snap-dragon (game) – Game involving grabbing fruit out of burning brandy

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..