Pass the buck

G

Glenn Dykes

Guest
Just read this , never knew it .

Don't want to take responsibility for something yourself? Just pass the buck, or hand off the duties to someone else. The phrase originated in the American Wild West during poker games, according to Jack. "The most common knife available was known as a buckhorn knife. As all cowboys and ranchers carried them around, one of them would be placed in front of whoever was due to deal the next hand, and in games where the stakes were running too high for a player, he could opt out of his turn at dealing by passing the buckhorn knife on to the next player. But even if he did choose to play, he still avoided the responsibility of setting the bets next time around by passing the buck along.
 
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