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I play the "silence game" with my kids, in which you win if you remain silent the longest, while a player is trying to get others talking. As we take turn playing; what term best describes the role of such player?

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  • I suggest the same method kids already use when playing "Tag, Touch-and-Go" - You're "it!" Apparently, In India, the player who is "it" is referred to as the "denner". But that wouldn't be understood by mainstream Anglophones, whereas "it" almost certainly would, even in a relatively unfamiliar context..
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 23, 2023 at 17:21
  • LOL, it's not just me then!!
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Jan 23, 2023 at 17:24

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This is perhaps a dialect/regional thing, but I'll share it because it's a bit silly, as such games usually are. Also, I don't know if it would apply to this particular game, or if other English speakers around the world would use this, or perhaps I'm just showing my age . . .

Here in some parts of the UK, for games like hide and seek, or tig (aka tag), where you have one person who controls the flow of the game, and then it's time for somebody else to take their turn in this role, we would say "You're it".

It's my turn, I'll be it!

No, it's his turn, he can be it

No! Can I be it?

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    Nothing in the relevant Wikipedia page implies this usage is any more or less common on either side of the pond.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 23, 2023 at 17:29
  • @FumbleFingers - interesting, that might suggest it's quite an old tradition. I wonder how far back it goes.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Jan 23, 2023 at 17:35
  • If only children knew how to keep records of their culture...
    – Lee Mosher
    Commented Jan 23, 2023 at 17:39
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    @FumbleFingers - yeah I saw that. Nice. I hope it hasn't died out. I knew it as blindman's bluff . . . a variation perhaps?
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Jan 23, 2023 at 17:52
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    LOL, it's not just me then!! I only thought about that when copying in that last comment, but you've prompted me to ferret out this usage chart, showing that it used to always be Buff - but during our lifetimes, Bluff has surged ahead to take the top slot! (We have our fingers firmly on the linguistic pulse! :)
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 23, 2023 at 18:03

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