Talk:Telephone game

You can not be serious

I’d have to imagine this has been argued many times before and some absurd article overlord won but … Chinese Whispers … seriously?? Shit is comical. CarlStrokes (talk) 07:23, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

I just found out about it today, and yes, it's comical. I will start RM now. Levivich (talk) 23:46, 15 August 2024 (UTC)

Requested move 15 August 2024

Chinese whispers → Telephone game – How about, given the choice between using a racist name popular in the former British Empire, and a non-racist name popular amongst more people in the rest of the world, we choose the non-racist name? It's an embarrassment to Wikipedia that the many prior RMs have centered around WP:ENGVAR--as if racism is a matter of English variation--and WP:RETAIN--as if we should continue to have a racist name because we've always had a racist name. Given the choice of two common, recognizable, natural, precise, concise, and consistent names, let's go with the one that does not imply something negative about Chinese people. Levivich (talk) 23:51, 15 August 2024 (UTC)

Notified WT:GAMES, WT:TELECOM, WT:CHINA. Levivich (talk) 23:49, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

• I'm not convinced it's overtly racist (and that's not a phrase I often say). To be honest, I've never heard that name before today, so I did a bit of searching. I found a few marginally WP:RS which dance around the question without concluding one way or another, i.e. "Chinese Whispers - Meaning & Origin Of The Phrase". Phrase Finder. Retrieved 15 August 2024.. "Definition of CHINESE WHISPERS". merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 15 August 2024. doesn't say anything about that at all. And if you're looking for academic literature, I found org/stable/10.5749/vergstudglobasia.1.1.0066 "Chinese Whispers on JSTOR". www-jstor-org.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org. Retrieved 15 August 2024. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help) which talks about the origins of the name but also doesn't conclude that it's racist. If we're going to insist on WP:RS for the text of our articles, I think we should also insist on WP:RS for how we title them. RoySmith (talk) 00:48, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

  I don't think of Phrase Finder as an RS, or any kind of authority on this, particularly as it's a UK source and the author writes:

  The name ‘Chinese Whispers’ was adopted for the game in the UK in the mid 20th century, prior to that it was known as ‘Russian Scandal’ or ‘Russian Gossip’. The reason for the change isn’t clear. It is sometimes suggested that the phrase is a racial slur and is intended to convey the idea that the Chinese talk nonsense. I see no reason to assume that. The English aren’t especially badly disposed towards the Chinese – there are many other races on the UK hit list above the Chinese. I think the decision by whoever coined the phrase had more to do with the Chinese language being more incomprehensible to English ears than Russian. If there is any racial stereotyping inherent in the phrase it may be by an association with the idea that the Chinese are inscrutable.

  I'm not giving much weight to a source that says it's not racist because the English are not especially badly disposed towards the Chinese compared to how racist the English are towards other peoples, and anyway the Chinese are incomprehensible or inscrutable.

  Here are some other sources:

  • In this context, the old children’s game that is still called ‘Chinese Whispers’ in Britain springs to mind. Not only does Europe send unclear messages, non-Europeans are often reluctant to listen. Issues are ‘lost in translation’ and sometimes players twist the message to suit their own interests. ... There is one initial caveat: the very notion of ‘Chinese Whispers’—or ‘Indian Summers’, for that matter—is strongly indicative of Europe’s crucial mindset problem. Most Europeans still imply that the causes of confusion and miscommunication, if and when they occur, are located outside Europe. ... I will suggest abandoning Eurocentric rhetoric in pursuit of a relevant and open dialogue in today’s world of many worlds. ... Europeans might still name the game ‘Chinese Whispers’, but everyone else refers to ‘Belgian Waffles’ instead.
    — MAYER, H. (2008). "Is it still called “Chinese Whispers”? The EU’s rhetoric and action as a responsible global institution." International Affairs, 84(1), 62–79. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2346.2008.00689.x

  • The game is derived from dark origins, evolving from a racist idea in the mid 20th century that Chinese people spoke in a way that was deliberately unintelligible. With the majority of people now realising the derogatory nature of the name, the game is mostly referred to as the telephone game.
    — News.com.au [1]

  • The notion of “Chinese whispers” stems from a racist idea in the 1800s that Chinese people spoke in a way that was deliberately unintelligible. It associates the Chinese language with “confusion” and “incomprehensibility”. Now, the game is more commonly referred to as “the telephone game” in the United States.
    — The Chronicle (Australia) [2]

  • Though engaging in the fun word play game of passing on a whispered phrase might be a regular occurrence, the term itself comes from negative stereotypes established in America during the height of Chinese immigration that framed the sound of Chinese people speaking as unintelligible or nonsense. These days, the better term is to call the game Telephone.
    — Yahoo! Lifestyle [3]

  • It is supposed that the origin of this phrase has something to do with the Chinese language being difficult to understand and/or translate. Regardless, it's probably better the refer to poorly transmitted gossip as "a game of Telephone."
    — HuffPost [4]

  These aren't really RS either, like Phrase Finder, but as a bonus:

  • "“Chinese Whispers” - A reflection on language and turning down old phrases"
  • Phil Wang's book excerpt in The Times [5] refers to "Chinese virus" as The new Chinese whispers.
  • Phil Wang quoted in The Guardian [6]: We just call Chinese whispers ‘whispers’.

  Bottom line: it doesn't have to be overtly racist; as between a title that is maybe racist, and a title that is not at all racist, I'll choose the latter. Levivich (talk) 02:03, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

• Support move, as per the argument of Levivich

Irruptive Creditor (talk) 04:36, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

• Support move, based on sources quoted above, Rjjⁱⁱⁱ (talk) 07:41, 16 August 2024 (UTC)
• Support move – Common name varies regionally, so let's settle on one that doesn't sound racist or cringeworthy ClaudineChionh (she/her · talk · contribs · email) 08:34, 16 August 2024 (UTC)
• Oppose per Talk:Chinese whispers/Archive 1#Let's close the name issue. As noted more sources use "Chinese whispers" than "telephone/telephone game", the term is less ambiguous and as noted in May 2021 the first major contributor used British English so WP:RETAIN applies. In England no one would probably know what "telephone game" is as I've never heard it used we use the term "Chinese whispers" as a metaphor when rumours are spread. Yes we don't want to appear to be racist but I've never heard anyone in England think its racist (except maybe when I asked someone a few years ago due to the previous discussion which I don't think they said yes anway) and as noted the name may come from the Great Wall of China. Are names like Chinese wall also offensive? If it was terms like Scottish whispers or Australian whispers we might find them offensive but in Chinese they probably won't be especially if they were to come from a source that isn't to do with the language. Crouch, Swale (talk) 17:57, 16 August 2024 (UTC)
  • Crouch: uh... I've never heard anyone in England think its racist is not equivalent to 'this is not racist/this does not sound racist'. And as an Australian of Chinese descent, sure, I don't encounter 'telephone game' very often, but I do die a little inside whenever I hear terms like 'Chinese whispers' or 'Chinese wall' used without question, and why on earth do you think it's less offensive than 'Scottish whispers' or 'Australian whispers'? — ClaudineChionh (she/her · talk · contribs · email) 02:25, 17 August 2024 (UTC)
    • @ClaudineChionh: I was using "Australian" and "Scottish" as examples, these terms are not in common usage AFAIK in Chinese (I don't speak Chinese so I don't know) but if these were common in Chinese they wouldn't nessesarrily have to use a different term if it was common usage in Chinese even if some Chinese people though using Austrlian or Scottish was offensive. Crouch, Swale (talk) 05:13, 17 August 2024 (UTC)
      • Crouch: Why are you even bringing up Chinese-language usage? This discussion is about an English-language idiom that a fair number of English-speaking people find offensive. — ClaudineChionh (she/her · talk · contribs · email) 05:32, 17 August 2024 (UTC)
        • Just for examples but as noted "Chinese whispers" doesn't appear to be offensive in England and we wouldn't understand what "telephone game" is so per WP:RETAIN we don't change it. Crouch, Swale (talk) 05:40, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

Oppose your argument for moving it involves showing sources that clearly demonstrate it as the common name. The term is also more precise, there's only one game known as Chinese whispers but 'telephone game' can refer to multiple things. Traumnovelle (talk) 20:57, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

@Traumnovelle:

the old children’s game that is still called ‘Chinese Whispers’ in Britain ... Europeans might still name the game ‘Chinese Whispers’, but everyone else ...

With the majority of people now realising the derogatory nature of the name, the game is mostly referred to as the telephone game.

Now, the game is more commonly referred to as “the telephone game” in the United States.

These days, the better term is to call the game Telephone.

better the refer to poorly transmitted gossip as "a game of Telephone."

Which of these clearly demonstrate "Chinese whispers" as the common name?

What other notable topics does "Telephone game" refer to? Levivich (talk) 21:09, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

That's just for the United States and Canada. It's known as Chinese whispers in every other English speaking country.

Aside from the hat note you can see with Google Trends that the searches for 'telephone game' have nothing to do with Chinese whispers: [7]. Telephone game itself should probably be a disambiguation with mobile phone game rather than a redirect here, let alone the main title. Traumnovelle (talk) 21:13, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

It's not just for the US and Canada; it's also at least Australia (according to the Australian source above), and according to another source above, "Chinese whispers" is only popular in Britain. US+Canada+Australia = 400 million people; UK = 67 million people. The sources say that "Telephone" is more common than "Chinese whispers," and per capita, by a factor of 6x.

As for Telephone game (game theory), that was the article that was created during one of the RMs by someone opposed to moving this to "Telephone" on the grounds of ambiguity. Manufactured ambiguity. The idea that the obscure game theory example would be mistaken for the common children's game is absurd. Levivich (talk) 16:40, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

It is definitely known as Chinese whispers in Australia still and you've ignored other Commonwealth countries.

Should we move The Nigger of the "Narcissus" to the less racist The Children of the Sea or A Tale of the Sea? Traumnovelle (talk) 19:57, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

Yes, probably. Do you have any RS saying it's known as Chinese whispers outside of Britain? Levivich (talk) 20:00, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

The Oxford English Dictionary. Traumnovelle (talk) 20:04, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

@Levivich, the source you cited above says the old children’s game that is still called ‘Chinese Whispers’ in Britain ... Europeans might still name the game ‘Chinese Whispers’, but everyone else .... Europe has a population of 746.4 million (with most of the population scoring above 52 proficiency points, thus moderately proficient in English, per English language in Europe) and North America has a population of 579 million. "Europeans might" in the sentence is synonymous with "Although Europeans" because of the "but" in the next part of the sentence. So the source you cited establishes 'Chinese whispers' as more widely used. Svampesky (talk) 20:46, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

• Support move I think one could argue for either term being the common name (although personally I never heard of it by this name until today, and I grew up in a time and place where casual racism was prevelant). Between the two choices, using the obviously not racist one seems best, while continuing to mention the other name in the article text. Mistakes were made in the naming of things in the past, and although we aren't here to right great wrongs we have a choice here, so why not make the right choice? Just Step Sideways ^{from this world ..... today} 21:20, 16 August 2024 (UTC)
• Oppose The proposal has been made several times before without success and so repeating it once again is vexatious. The claim that it's racist is absurd as Chinese is a language/culture/country, not a race. What's really at work here is Americanism - Americans insisting that we have to do things their way, contrary to WP:ENGVAR. There are plenty of other traditional games named in this way such as British bulldog, Chinese checkers, Double Dutch, French cricket, Hopscotch, Pig Latin, etc. The article has been stable at this title for many years and so WP:RETAIN applies, as before. Andrew🐉(talk) 21:59, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

  Wow, "you can't be racist against Chinese people" was not on my spurious arguments bingo card. Funny that we have an entire article about it then. Also interesting that you are assigning motivations not in evidence to other users. Just Step Sideways ^{from this world ..... today} 22:20, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

  This is purely an ENGVAR issue and we also have an article anti-British sentiment too. There's no pressure to change the title of Chinese checkers because that's familiar in US English. That game was actually invented in Germany but the Chinese branding was invented in the US.

  For another example, see Chinese burn. That's the name familiar to children in Britain but the article is titled Indian burn because that's the name familiar in the US. The etymologies for these names are obscure because they are generated in an organic way in playgrounds and only enter adult literature later. The claims that it's racist are fanciful false etymology like the complaints about words like "crowbar" and "picnic".

  Andrew🐉(talk) 06:16, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

  Oh for Pete's sake, "Chinese checkers" isn't derogatory like "Chinese whispers." The whole reason it's called "Chinese whispers" is because of -- as the sources quoted above say -- the stereotype that Chinese people are incomprehensible or inscrutable. "Chinese checkers" doesn't carry that connotation. It's amazing how you weigh the considerations at play here: on the one hand, a derogatory stereotype vs. on the other hand, that's how it's always been called in my country! 🙄 Levivich (talk) 16:27, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

  @Levivich: We don't know if the name comes from this, as noted in 2021 the name may come from the Great Wall of China, I see now reason to change based on common usage and ambiguity as well as WP:RETAIN. Crouch, Swale (talk) 17:11, 18 August 2024 (UTC)

• Support alternate move to Telephone (game) as it was in 2020, not because I am necessarily convinced the current name is offensive, but because there's an equally common name that is completely inoffensive, so there's no apparent reason to leave it here, nor was there an apparent reason to move it in the first place from that name. I oppose Telephone game for the same reasons as in 2020, it can refer to any game played using a telephone. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 16:42, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

  I support a move to Telephone (game) as an alt. Either that or Telephone game works for me. Levivich (talk) 17:00, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

• Oppose. I acknowledge that both terms are recognizable enough to considered the common name (First amendment: per others, 'telephone game' is not the common name everywhere and the term is too ambiguous for those not familiar it) when talking about/referencing the game, but 'Chinese whispers' as a metaphor conveys a singular meaning. In biology and network science, 'Chinese whispers' is used as an analogy for imperfect transmission. On the other hand, the term 'telephone game' is too ambiguous, as it is associated with different etymologies when used; such as game theory where the etymology is "a telephone call was cut off then the caller would redial". I do also believe it's a stretch to suggest that 'telephone game' could ever refer to a mobile phone game. Second amendment: Another game called 'telephone game' has a completely different setup. José Melis and The Tonight Show Band, the "Telephone Game," he would write songs on the spot about four-digit telephone numbers given to him by audience members. Is something less ambiguous than 'telephone game' that can be considered as an option in this move request? Third amendment: On JSTOR, "Chinese whispers" returns 632 results; "Telephone game" returns 226 results. 'Chinese whispers' is the common name on JSTOR by about threefold. Svampesky (talk) 19:12, 17 August 2024 (UTC); Amendments: 11:29, 18 August 2024 (UTC); 14:18, 18 August 2024 (UTC); 14:41, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

  It's not even a stretch. If you look at the Google data for the search it's quite clear a lot of people searching for 'telephone game' are looking for things other than Chinese whispers. Traumnovelle (talk) 21:20, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

  I think my !vote might have been poorly worded. The term 'telephone game' is commonly used to refer to this specific game when naming this specific game as much as 'Chinese whispers' is used. However, in a broader context, the term 'telephone game' is too ambiguous. Every metaphorical derivative of 'Chinese whispers' originates from this game, whereas not every metaphorical derivative of the 'telephone game' comes from it, making the former less ambiguous. Svampesky (talk) 21:33, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

  I don't think it was poorly worded. I was just pointing out that 'telephone game' referring to mobile phone games isn't a stretch and is a common search term evidently. Traumnovelle (talk) 21:58, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

• Support Telephone game, per nom. —-SmokeyJoe (talk) 23:08, 17 August 2024 (UTC)
• Support Telephone game (first preference) or Telephone (game) (2nd preference). Both Google Trends and Ngrams indicate that telephone game is the more common term globally (and also that "telephone game" is a common term, hence my preference towards the natural form). Ngrams even indicates that the use of "Chinese whispers" may be declining in British English literature specifically, though less conclusively: [8] I'm primarily swayed by Levivich's argument, though; when choosing between two valid terms, one of which clearly carries racial implications and the other does not, we should prefer the neutral term. This has nothing to do with ENGVAR, as it should apply regardless of where the racially insensitive term is used (and indeed, American English has quite the collection of racially insensitive language itself). Dylnuge ^{(Talk • Edits)} 01:37, 18 August 2024 (UTC)

  If you actually look at the trends data it's quite obvious a lot of the searches are not related to Chinese whispers. The top related queries are about 'gartic' which is an unrelated game. Ngrams can't distinguish between telephone game (Chinese whispers) and other uses of telephone game. Traumnovelle (talk) 01:49, 18 August 2024 (UTC)

  "Related queries" are not always necessarily related; by the same argument you're making here, people searching for "Chinese whispers" potentially intended to search for Fearless Whispers (indeed, some might have; we cannot know). Also, Gartic Phone is an online version of Telephone Pictionary, which itself is a variant of this game (that second link redirects to this article). Calling it fully unrelated is a stretch; it's calling itself a "telephone game" because that's a well recognized and common name for the subject of this article. Neither Ngrams or Trends are perfect, but it's not obvious to me in any way that the data should be preferentially discounted, especially as you've neglected to provide any evidence to the contrary. I stand by the accuracy of my comment. Dylnuge ^{(Talk • Edits)} 03:57, 18 August 2024 (UTC)

  Related queries are other terms the same people searched for. Fearless Whispers doesn't actually appear in the results, so no we can be certain that isn't the case.

  >Telephone Pictionary, which itself is a variant of this game (that second link redirects to this article).

  Which makes 'telephone game' an even more vague term with multiple definitions? Traumnovelle (talk) 04:02, 18 August 2024 (UTC)

  At the time of posting, "Fearless Whispers" is first under rising and 24th under top related queries for "Chinese whispers"—the exact same position I see "gartic phone" for "telephone game". Related queries change quickly, so it's possible you saw something else (though I'm still seeing those results), but I didn't pull it out of thin air. Meanwhile, do you actually have sources using the phrase "telephone game" to mean mobile game or any other distinct and different term? I can't find any evidence of anyone doing so, and the results I get for searching telephone game on both Google and Bing don't suggest that happens with any regularity. Dylnuge ^{(Talk • Edits)} 13:33, 18 August 2024 (UTC)

  Telephone game (game theory) is an article. Traumnovelle (talk) 19:54, 18 August 2024 (UTC)

  So is Chinese Whispers (novella). In neither case is the primary topic in question. Dylnuge ^{(Talk • Edits)} 01:25, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

  Accoring to Amazon, this is a novel about a game of Chinese whispers. Chinese Whispers (poetry collection), according to London Review Bookshop, is a concept poetry book where each poem undergoes a slight alteration until the book reaches the end. This clearly establishes 'Chinese whispers' as a metaphor with a singular origin. 'Telephone game' is more ambiguous as it is associated with different etymologies when used metaphorically. Svampesky (talk) 12:25, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

• Oppose. There seems to be no good evidence that the origin of the name involves offensive racial slurs. Rather, people are supposedly taking offence just because others might conceive that the origin involves racism. It's analogous to right-on objections to "manhole" (from Latin manus, a hand) or "niggardly" (from Middle English nigon). At the very worst, the only potential racist implication is that foreigners with their own very different language are liable to be incomprehensible to English-speakers, which I think nobody can deny is often true. Would you really mind at all if the Chinese called the game "English whispers"? As a Brit, I only know the game as "Chinese whispers"; I would not understand "telephone game". Wikipedia should respect and reflect usage, not evangelise. JMCHutchinson (talk) 10:45, 18 August 2024 (UTC)

  It's not analogous to your other examples at all, unless you think the name is derived from the Middle English chynen or something (it isn't). Dylnuge ^{(Talk • Edits)} 19:40, 18 August 2024 (UTC)

• Support. Support as the common name, I've never heard of this game called anything else but telephone. We shouldn't give primacy to a select few countries where this is called Chinese whispers. Framing the move proposal around racism accusations set the wrong tone for this dicussion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Killuminator (talk • contribs)

So instead of giving primary to a select few countries we should instead give it to the US and Canada? Traumnovelle (talk) 19:58, 18 August 2024 (UTC)

I'm not from either of those countries and we use telephone for the game's name. Killuminator (talk) 21:10, 18 August 2024 (UTC)

• Support move to Telephone (game) (first choice) or Telephone game (second choice). I've always known the game as simply "telephone", not "telephone game" or "the telephone game" and certainly not "Chinese whispers". Yes, there are a few countries where the game has at least historically been called "Chinese whispers", but even those countries are slowly switching how they call it, and I think that they have changed enough to make this unambiguous already, where many people in those countries would probably recognize "telephone", perhaps only "telephone" but more likely at this point in addition to "Chinese whispers", while on the other hand, my experience suggests that many people from countries where the game has historically been called "telephone" would not recognize "Chinese whispers", considering I would not have before today. Also, I think that Telephone (game) would be better at disambiguating from other subjects than Telephone game. — Preceding unsigned comment added by The Nth User (talk • contribs) 06:37, 19 August 2024 (UTC)
• Oppose per WP:ENGVAR. Nobody in the UK calls it the Telephone Game or Telephone! We record facts; we do not censor for what some may regard as racism (but which many do not). The name does not imply something negative about Chinese people. What it implies is that most English-speaking people do not understand Chinese people. The joke is on us, not them. Personally, as a native English-speaker, I'm not offended by it! But then, unlike many these days, I have a sense of humour. -- Necrothesp (talk) 11:19, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

  That rationale might make sense if it were called "British ears." This has nothing to do with ENGVAR as this isn't a British game. Levivich (talk) 13:35, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

  Of course the rationale makes sense. WP:RETAIN. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:31, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

  RETAIN is the weakest of all arguments. Because someone decided to move this article like 20 years ago, we should keep this racist title forever? Come on. Levivich (talk) 14:34, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

  Actually, RETAIN is generally considered to be a very strong argument at RM. And, once again, you may think it's racist, but others do not. -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:28, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

  It's not just me who thinks it's racist, it's also the authors of this Oxford book; this paper; articles in News.com.au, The Chronicle, Yahoo! Lifestyle, and HuffPost; and these fans of MasterChef, among others. Levivich (talk) 20:33, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

  As I'm sure you're aware, you can always find someone who'll be offended by anything. So what? That doesn't give you or them primacy over me or others who do not consider it to be racist. It's a classic "I'm right because [I think] I've got the moral high ground" argument. -- Necrothesp (talk) 09:48, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

  shit white people say 😂 That was a really cringey comment. FYI: it's racist because it's a derogatory stereotype about Chinese people. As between something that's maybe racist and something that's not, you should prefer the one that's not. Levivich (talk) 11:39, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

• Support - Seems an easy answer. I think the rational to keep a racist because that's what people grew up with a bit weak. Plus Telephone is the common name over here, never heard Chinese Whispers. PackMecEng (talk) 13:12, 19 August 2024 (UTC)
  • Again, you're claiming it's racist without any basis other than "I think it is"! And per WP:RETAIN, so what if you've never heard it called this? This isn't Americanopedia. I'd never heard of "Telephone" before this whole debate started either; in Britain, we've always called it Chinese whispers. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:31, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    Most of the sources we've looked at on this page agree it's racist. Also, it's called "Chinese whispers", which is pretty strong evidence of same. Who cares what it's called in Britain? That's only 67 million English speakers out of over a billion worldwide. Levivich (talk) 14:35, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    On JSTOR, "Chinese whispers" returns 632 results; "Telephone game" returns 226 results. On Google Scholar, "Chinese whispers" returns 8,500 results and "Telephone game" returns 2,900 results. On both Google Scholar and JSTOR, 'Chinese whispers' more common by about threefold. Svampesky (talk) 14:45, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    That doesn't mean anything. See WP:HITS. Among other reasons, it doesn't give us any information about current usage v. historical usage. The hits aren't necessarily RS (even at GS and JSTOR). Levivich (talk) 15:16, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    Filtering the search on JSTOR to English-language academic journals published after 2018, "Chinese whispers" and "Telephone game" still returns around three times more usage of 'Chinese whispers'. Svampesky (talk) 15:27, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    "Game of telephone" gets more hits though. Hameltion (talk | contribs) 23:29, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    @Levivich: That's only 67 million English speakers out of over a billion worldwide, this is false. Europeans who learn English as a second language generally learn British English. Australian English and Indian English are closer (if not almost the same) to British English. Svampesky (talk) 15:00, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    We're not talking about British English, we're talking about in Britain. The Australian news source quotes above says "Chinese whispers" is derogatory and that it's mostly called "Telephone game", for example. Levivich (talk) 15:14, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    Chinese whispers is still the common name in Australia and the Google data supports that. The article you've linked to support it is a lifestyle column, not exactly a reliable source for, well anything... Traumnovelle (talk) 19:54, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    Do you know of an RS saying Chinese whispers is the common name in Australia? Levivich (talk) 19:58, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    The Chronicle article you linked to is a list of 'common' expressions and phrases used in Australia. Also this OED entry says where it is used [9] compared to their entry for telephone which states it is North American: [10] Traumnovelle (talk) 20:03, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    That Chronicle article is entitled "these overused expressions have racist origins". It's not just "common" expressions. The OED says "is used," not "is commonly used" or "is most commonly used" or "is more commonly used than..." Levivich (talk) 20:16, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    Are you really going to be this petty? Traumnovelle (talk) 20:17, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    I don't think there's anything petty about not using a racist term as a title when we have another non-racist term available. Levivich (talk) 20:18, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    The etymology section of the article cites "'THE LUCK OF A CHINAMAN': IMAGES OF THE CHINESE IN POPULAR AUSTRALIAN SAYINGS from the Institute of Advanced Studies Australian National University: Australians sitting around a table played a game called 'Chinese whispers' in which one person whispered a story to his or her neighbour who in turnpassed the tale to the next person. Svampesky (talk) 20:08, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    That article is over 30 years old (1992). For more recent sources that say this is racist and has fallen out of favor, see above. Levivich (talk) 20:17, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    Source, singular. You have one source for the claim it is no longer the common name and it is a lifestyle column. Traumnovelle (talk) 20:18, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    Also, that entire article is about racist things Australians say, of which "Chinese whispers" is given as an example. Levivich (talk) 20:21, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    Who cares what it's called in Britain? That's only 67 million English speakers out of over a billion worldwide. And there we have it, clear confirmation that the nominator does not believe in one of Wikipedia's cornerstones: that no one variety of English should be considered primary over another. And also does not understand that British English often extends further than the UK in any case. It's also called Chinese whispers in Commonwealth countries. -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:28, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    That was kind of my point with my comment. You used, as part of your rational, that you never heard of it being called telephone. But here you are saying the same argument does not work the other way. It's kind of silly. PackMecEng (talk) 14:48, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    You misunderstand. My point was that WP:RETAIN says that we should retain the variety of English in which the article was originally written (in any stable form). That's British English. Your argument appeared to be that because Telephone is the common name over here, never heard Chinese Whispers (wherever "over here" may be) that should be the title of the article. -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:28, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    WP:RETAIN says it should be kept "in the absence of consensus to the contrary". It doesn't say consensus can never be formed to change it, it says consensus must be established before doing so...and that's sorta the whole point of this discussion. Dylnuge ^{(Talk • Edits)} 15:47, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

    There isn't a good reason to change it, the name "Chinese whispers" is less ambiguous and more common which RETAIN allows moves to less ambiguous titles as an exception even ignoring what was noted in 2021 that it used British English at the time it was expanded. Crouch, Swale (talk) 18:19, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

• Oppose and speedy close. This has been discussed as nauseam previously, and it's very simple: WP:RETAIN demands that we stick with the prevailing variety of English and not switch to another variety of English when both are acceptable. However much "support" this proposal gets, the move is not permitted. Not entertaining arguments such as this one is one of the reasons why English speakers of different culture and dialects have been coexisting and building the encyclopedia collaboratively for all these years.  — Amakuru (talk) 20:24, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

  When an English variety's consistent usage has been established in an article, maintain it in the absence of consensus to the contrary. And you characterize that as demands that we stick with the prevailing variety of English and not switch to another variety of English when both are acceptable. This discussion is about whether both are acceptable, and whether there is consensus to the contrary. Speedy close an RM that is passing 11-7? That would be overturned on appeal. I'm rather shocked this vote is coming from you, Amakuru. Levivich (talk) 20:36, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

• Support per nom, though Telephone (game) preferred. Hameltion (talk | contribs) 23:33, 19 August 2024 (UTC)
• Support either Telephone game or Telephone (game). As Wikipedia:Article titles explains, there are several different goals in article naming, and figuring out how to balance them and what name to go with is done by consensus, and consensus is achieved through discussion, which is what's happening here, so there is no need to dismiss the move discussion on its face.
  On what to call the article, while "Chinese whispers" is a historical name, it's one of several, and sources like  News.com.au note that contemporaneously the game is mostly referred to as the telephone game.
  WP:ENGVAR has been cited in this and other discussions as a reason to , but it should be considered alongside WP:TITLEVAR which notes that favoring a regional variety of English may be appropriate [i]f a topic has strong ties to a particular English-speaking nation (emphasis added). However, the topic is international in its scope and isn't relevant to just one English-speaking nation, so WP:ENGVAR/WP:TITLEVAR/MOS:TIES does not cleanly apply. "Telephone game" has been called an "Americanism", but the aforementioned Australian news source indicates the term is used internationally.
  Finally, while English Wikipedia is an English-language encyclopedia, it's also an international encyclopedia. Having an article titled using outdated racist terminology is disruptive, and I'm inclined to agree with OP that given the choice between an article title that at worst is racist and at best is maybe racist versus an article title that is neutral, descriptive, and recognized in multiple countries, it better serves Wikipedia's purposes, policies, and guidlines—from the Universal Code of Conduct to our title conventions—to move the article to the name Telephone game or Telephone (game). Hydrangeans (she/her | talk | edits) 02:20, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

  Its not a historical name in British English, as both me and Necrothesp have said we've never heard it called "telephone". Telephone isn't an international name given its not used in all countries, we in England (and probably other Commonwealth countries) wouldn't recognize "telephone". The game doesn't have close ties to America (or any other country that uses "telephone") so we shouldn't change it from one regional name to another per RETAIN when "Chinese whispers" was the 1st non stub version and the title since 2006. Crouch, Swale (talk) 16:50, 22 August 2024 (UTC)

  Do you suppose you speak for all British people? Just because you've never heard of it doesn't mean anything. You are not a reliable source. You have no idea whether people in England would recognize "telephone game". Have you taken a poll? And more to the point: don't you care one whit that a lot of people think it's racist? Even if you don't, others clearly do. Does this not factor into your thinking at all? I mean, you're seriously arguing that, on the one hand, a lot of people think it's racist, but on the other hand, somebody created a stub in 2006 and this is the name they chose, so we should retain it. How can you reconcile such a view in your head? Do you just not care if people think it's racist? What it was called in 2006 is more important to you than that?? How can you be so callous? Particularly given England's history of colonization and such, including in China... how does none of that seemingly matter to you? This title invokes derogatory stereotypes of Chinese people: please, give a damn. Levivich (talk) 17:38, 22 August 2024 (UTC)

  I don't speak for all British people but neither do the American (or similar) people who have supported moving who also claim never to have heard of "Chinese whispers". Interestingly at Talk:Chinese whispers/Archive 1#Comments on move there was a suggestion that "Chinese whispers" is used in American English. If the term was really thought to be problematic its likely PC people in England would have at least tried to phase it out, the fact its still the only term that we appear to understand is a good indication its not thought of as offensive. As I've said no one that I know of has even thought its stereotyping Chinese people or similar, its just what we call it. By the same lodgic is Chinese wall offensive? Given that that may have similar origins such as from the Great Wall of China. The policy is clear that this is what we should call it per the 2006 non stub title just like we don't move Color to Colour or Orange (colour) to Orange (color). RETAIN has 2 exceptions to allow ENGVAR changes, the 1st being what the topic has stong ties to a variety which doesn't apply as the game has no ties to either American or British English, the 2nd exception is when the change reduces ambiguity which quite possible does apply here since as noted in the 2020 discussion there are lots of games involving telephones. WP:NATURAL says Sometimes, this requires a change in the variety of English used; for instance, Lift is a disambiguation page with no primary topic, so Elevator is the title of the article on the lifting device. This argument may be a bit weak for Telephone game given it does still redirect here but as noted people have expressed concern of its ambiguity. NATURAL does support "Chinese whisper" over "Telephone (game)" even if "telephone" was slightly more common so in conclusion both RETAIN and NATURAL favour keeping this article with the current title. Crouch, Swale (talk) 18:09, 22 August 2024 (UTC)

• Support move. I find the rationale incredibly convincing. Clovermoss🍀 (talk) 14:52, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

  I also agree with Dylnuge's and Hydrangeans comments above. Clovermoss🍀 (talk) 14:59, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

• Move to Telephone (game) - Contra to Jmchutchinson and Necrothesp, I never knew "Chinese whispers" to be a name of this game at all until being made aware that this discussion was happening. Dylnuge also makes a great point re: RETAIN and consensus. ― "Ghost of Dan Gurney" (talk)  23:16, 21 August 2024 (UTC)
• Support I agree with the points that when we have two common names, where one is racist and the other is not, there should be clear preference for the nonracist term. WP:ENGVAR also makes little sense when telephone game is by far the most used term in British English. ~ F4U (talk • they/it) 15:48, 22 August 2024 (UTC)
• Support. WP:UCRN says "Article titles should be neither vulgar (unless unavoidable) nor pedantic. When there are multiple names for a subject, all of which are fairly common, and the most common has problems, it is perfectly reasonable to choose one of the others." In another words, it's perfectly fine to move this page away from a racist title. ~~ Jessintime (talk) 15:54, 22 August 2024 (UTC)
• Support. It's [insert current year here], people! User:HumanxAnthro (BanjoxKazooie) 18:52, 22 August 2024 (UTC)