Chinese whispers
Encyclopedia
Chinese whispers is one name for a game played around the world, in which one person whispers a message to another, which is passed through a line of people until the last player announces the message to the entire group. Errors typically accumulate in the retellings, so the statement announced by the last player differs significantly, and often amusingly, from the one uttered by the first. Some players also deliberately alter what is being said in order to guarantee a changed message by the end of it.
The game is often played by children as a party game or in the playground. It is often invoked as a metaphor
for cumulative error, especially the inaccuracies as rumours or gossip spread, or, more generally, for the unreliability of human recollection.
The game is also known as telephone, grapevine, broken telephone, whisper down the lane, Развален телефон (Bulgarian for broken telephone) gossip, secret message, Le téléphone arabe (French for "Arab phone"), Stille Post (German for "Silent Mail"), Gioco del Telefono (Italian for "Telephone Game"), Telefono senza fili (Italian for "Cordless Phone"), Telefone sem fio (Portuguese for "Cordless Phone"), Głuchy telefon (Polish for "deaf telephone"), Зламаний телефон (Ukrainian for "Broken telephone"), Глуви телефони (Serbian for "deaf telephones"), Telefonul fără fir (Romanian for "Cordless Phone"), Испорченный телефон (Russian for "damaged telephone"), Rikkinäinen puhelin (Finnish for "Broken telephone") and pass the message. In the United States, "telephone" is the most common name for the game.
Today, the name "Chinese whispers" may be considered offensive or racist, although it is still commonly used in the United Kingdom. Historians trace Westerners' use of the word Chinese to denote "confusion" and "incomprehensibility" to the earliest contacts between Europeans and Chinese people in the 1600s, and attribute it to Europeans' inability to understand and appreciate China's radically different culture and worldview.
Using the phrase "Chinese whispers" suggests a belief that the Chinese language
itself is not understandable .
If the game has been 'successful', the final message will bear little or no resemblance to the original, because of the cumulative effect of mistakes along the line. Deliberately changing the phrase is often considered cheating, but if the starting phrase is poorly chosen, there may be disappointingly little natural change.
One variation known as "operator" allows each listener one chance to ask his or her neighbor for a repetition, as if assistance from the line operator
were available by calling that word.
As well as providing amusement, the game can have educational value. It shows how easily information can become corrupted by indirect communication. The game has been used in schools to simulate the spread of gossip and supposed harmful effects. It can also be used to teach young children to moderate the volume of their voice, and how to listen attentively; in this case, a game is a success if the message is transmitted accurately with each child "whispering" rather than "shouting". It can also be used for older or adult learners of a foreign language, where the challenge of speaking comprehensibly, and understanding, is more difficult because of the low volume, and hence a greater mastery of the fine points of pronunciation is required.
The game is often played by children as a party game or in the playground. It is often invoked as a metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
for cumulative error, especially the inaccuracies as rumours or gossip spread, or, more generally, for the unreliability of human recollection.
The game is also known as telephone, grapevine, broken telephone, whisper down the lane, Развален телефон (Bulgarian for broken telephone) gossip, secret message, Le téléphone arabe (French for "Arab phone"), Stille Post (German for "Silent Mail"), Gioco del Telefono (Italian for "Telephone Game"), Telefono senza fili (Italian for "Cordless Phone"), Telefone sem fio (Portuguese for "Cordless Phone"), Głuchy telefon (Polish for "deaf telephone"), Зламаний телефон (Ukrainian for "Broken telephone"), Глуви телефони (Serbian for "deaf telephones"), Telefonul fără fir (Romanian for "Cordless Phone"), Испорченный телефон (Russian for "damaged telephone"), Rikkinäinen puhelin (Finnish for "Broken telephone") and pass the message. In the United States, "telephone" is the most common name for the game.
Today, the name "Chinese whispers" may be considered offensive or racist, although it is still commonly used in the United Kingdom. Historians trace Westerners' use of the word Chinese to denote "confusion" and "incomprehensibility" to the earliest contacts between Europeans and Chinese people in the 1600s, and attribute it to Europeans' inability to understand and appreciate China's radically different culture and worldview.
Using the phrase "Chinese whispers" suggests a belief that the Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
itself is not understandable .
How to play
As many players as possible line up such that they can whisper to their immediate neighbours but not hear any players farther away. The player at the beginning of the line thinks of a phrase, and whispers it as quietly as possible to his or her neighbor. The neighbor then passes on the message to the next player to the best of his or her ability. The passing continues in this fashion until it reaches the player at the end of the line, who calls out the message he or she received.If the game has been 'successful', the final message will bear little or no resemblance to the original, because of the cumulative effect of mistakes along the line. Deliberately changing the phrase is often considered cheating, but if the starting phrase is poorly chosen, there may be disappointingly little natural change.
One variation known as "operator" allows each listener one chance to ask his or her neighbor for a repetition, as if assistance from the line operator
Telephone operator
A telephone operator is either* a person who provides assistance to a telephone caller, usually in the placing of operator assisted telephone calls such as calls from a pay phone, collect calls , calls which are billed to a credit card, station-to-station and person-to-person calls, and certain...
were available by calling that word.
Purpose
The game has no winner: the entertainment comes from comparing the original and final messages. Intermediate messages may also be compared; some messages will be unrecognizable after only a few steps.As well as providing amusement, the game can have educational value. It shows how easily information can become corrupted by indirect communication. The game has been used in schools to simulate the spread of gossip and supposed harmful effects. It can also be used to teach young children to moderate the volume of their voice, and how to listen attentively; in this case, a game is a success if the message is transmitted accurately with each child "whispering" rather than "shouting". It can also be used for older or adult learners of a foreign language, where the challenge of speaking comprehensibly, and understanding, is more difficult because of the low volume, and hence a greater mastery of the fine points of pronunciation is required.
See also
- Epistemology, the study of the properties of knowledge and truth
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