Hot potato

Hot potato is a party game in which players stand or sit in a circle and pass a small object, such as a beanbag or soft ball representing the potato, rapidly from person to person while music plays or a timer runs. When the music stops or time runs out, whoever is holding the object is eliminated from the round, and play continues with the remaining players until one winner remains. Its exact origins are unclear, but a related forfeit game appears in Sidney Oldall Addy's 1888 Glossary of Sheffield Words, in which players seated in a row passed a lit candle while reciting a rhyme, and whoever held the candle when it went out had to pay a forfeit. Hot potato belongs to the same family of elimination party games as musical chairs and pass the parcel, where chance timing rather than skill decides who is removed, which has made it a durable favorite at children's parties. The game's name has also passed into everyday language, as in the idiom passing the buck, reflecting how quickly players try to get rid of the object once they are holding it.