Guinness 250 'Chinese Whispers' advert

COMMUNICATION IS A VIRUS

CHINESE WHISPERS

in the game variously known as Chinese whispers,^[1] Telephone, Grapevine, Broken Telephone, Whisper Down the Lane, Gossip, Le téléphone arabe (French for "Arab Phone"),^{[citation needed]} Stille Post (German for "Silent Post"), Gioco del Telefono (Italian for "Telephone Game"), Telefone sem fio (Portuguese for "Cordless Phone") andPass the Message, the first player whispers a phrase or sentence to the next player. Each player successively whispers what that player believes he or she heard to the next. The last player announces the statement 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. 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,^[2] or, more generally, for the unreliability of human recollection.

In the United States, "Telephone" is the most common name for the game.^[2] The name "Chinese whispers" reflects the former stereotype in Europe of the Chinese language as being incomprehensible.^[3] It is little-used in the United States and may be considered offensive.^[4] However, it remains the common British English name for the game.^[5]