what does this mean?

Question

what does "pass the buck" mean?

Answer 1

"pass the problem on to someone else"

Answer 2

http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/HaveOriginsData.htm

Pass the buck

Meaning: Pass off responsibility to someone else.

Example: In times of trouble, my old boss was quick to pass the buck. But when things went well, her mantra became "the buck stops here".

Origin: Some card games use a marker called a buck. Players take turns acting as dealer with the buck marking the current dealer. When the buck is passed to the next player, the responsibility for dealing is passed.

Spawned the phrase "The buck stops here" popularized by President Harry Truman.

A buck-slip is also a small piece of paper that is sometimes preprinted, or hand-written, and included the names of the people who were to receive a memo or report. It is a routing list.

In the days before copy machines and computers people typed one memo, with a carbon copy, then passed the one copy of the memo around to the people listed on the buck slip. Each person initialed next to their name on the buck slip and passed the memo on to the next person on the buck slip.

A tactic used to delay or delegate something was to pass the document on to the next person, without initialing the buck slip -- pass the buck (slip). When Harry said the buck stopped here he meant he wasn't going to pass the responsibility along.

Although the buck slip was a popular use of the term, that usage may have originated with the gambling usage.

Thanks to John Sears

Answer 3

In the 1970s there was a game show called "Pass the Buck". There is also a poker game (also called "Button").

I suspect the origin of the phrase goes further than the 70s. A ha! Just found it. Meaning: Pass responsibility on to someone else. Read about it here: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/pass-the-buck.html

Good luck!

Answer 4

pass the buck 7 up, 1 down

A transfer of a problem from person to person.

Rather than taking a trip to the post office, the stamp-lacking asian asked her friend to drive over to her house and bring her stamps. She passed the buck to him.

Answer 5

Pass responsibility on to someone else.

Answer 6

Passing responsibility.......related to the phrase, "The buck stops here." (which is usually on the boss' or president's desk.)

Of course, they make all the money.

Answer 7

Everybody is wrong! It means pass me the One Dollar Bill.

Answer 8

to pass the responsibility

Answer 9

Pass the loonie and toonie and any other currency that you can thus think of.

Answer 10

When you don't take responsibility for something - give to someone else do