blind man's buff

See also: blindman's buff

English

Etymology

From blind man's + an obsolete sense of buff, coming from Old French buffe (“blow”). First known usage from 1854.

Noun

blind man's buff (uncountable)

  1. (British, games) A game where one person is blindfolded and tries to catch the other players.[1]
    Synonyms: hoodman-blind, (both obsolete) hoodwink
    • 1876, William Black, “An Encounter”, in Madcap Violet. […], volume III, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 74:
      That was a further clue; and here, indeed, young Mr. Dowse was getting "warm," as children say at blind-man's-buff, although, as a matter-of-fact, she had now been talking of George Miller at all.

Alternative forms
  • hoodman (“the blindfolded player”) (obsolete)

Translations

References
  1. Michael Quinion (2004) “Blind man's buff”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.

Further reading
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