The Chinese Whisper Phenomenon

The phenomenon known as chinese whispers stems from the game of the same name (see below). When passing information from one party to another (usually verbally) the facts and theme often become distorted. A common example of this is seen in rumors and neighbourhood gossip. Likewise, information passed by email is often altered, as is information that is overheard by people. Safety warnings can turn into scares, jokes into facts and dramas into crisis'.

The phenomenon itself can be defined as information that reaches it's destination, significantly altered in content, facts and theme to the way it was originally presented.

Chinese Whispers (the game)

The game of chinese whispers is very easy to learn, play and initiate. It is fun for all the family, male/female, old/young, black/white, sober or intoxicated.

The simple idea is to arrange the participants so that they form a chain. The chain can be circular, square or even just a line of people. The only restriction is that each person should only be able to communicate with one person on either side of them.

The first person chooses a phrase or sentence, the more bizarre the better, but try not to pick a well-known phrase as it will be too easy to remember. This first person then whispers it to the next, ensuring that no-one else hears it. The next person whispers what they think they heard to the next person, and so the phrase passes down the line. The last person to get the whisper announces it to the group and then compares it to the original.

The game has the best effect when the original phrase might be a little difficult to understand. The more people that are participating, the better the effect.

Try to avoid repeating what you whisper to the next person, the whole point is to pass on what you think you heard. Also try and resist spoiling the whisper intentionally, it's not big, and it's not clever.