Here’s a bit of Americana for the card players out there: the origin of the term “pass the buck,” meaning, of course, to avoid responsibility by giving it to someone else.
In the second half of the 1800s, poker became a very popular game. However, distrust was high, everyone assuming that everyone else was cheating, especially the dealer. This led to many a gunfight and bloody messes to clean up. The solution was to take turns dealing, passing the job on to the next person seated at the table. Whoever was dealing was given a marker to indicate that he was the dealer. Usually, this was a knife, which, in those days, often had handles carved out of a buck’s horn. Therefore, when it was your turn to deal, someone would “pass the buck” to you. Later, by the way, the knife was replaced by a silver dollar, which may be the derivation of the term “buck” for a dollar.
Another bit of trivia that you probably can’t work into any conversation……..
