White Elephant Gift Exchange - Wikipedia

Jump to content

Contents

move to sidebar hide

• (Top)
• 1 Etymology
• 2 Rules
• 3 See also
• 4 Explanatory notes
• 5 References

• Article
• Talk

English

• Read
• Edit
• View history

Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions

• Read
• Edit
• View history

General

• What links here
• Related changes
• Upload file
• Permanent link
• Page information
• Cite this page
• Get shortened URL
• Download QR code

Print/export

• Download as PDF
• Printable version

In other projects

• Wikimedia Commons
• Wikidata item

Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Holiday party game For other uses of "White elephant", see White elephant (disambiguation). For the game-theoretic model, see Gift-exchange game.

A white elephant gift exchange,[1] Yankee swap[2] or Dirty Santa[3][nb 1] is a party game where amusing and impractical gifts are exchanged during Christmas festivities. The goal of a white elephant gift exchange is to entertain party-goers rather than to give or acquire a genuinely valuable or highly sought-after item.[3] In a Yankee swap, the gifts exchanged are more likely to be practical or items that will be wanted by players. The game is played by opening gifts or "stealing" items that other participants have opened.

Etymology

[edit]

The term white elephant refers to an extravagant, impractical gift that cannot be easily disposed of. The phrase is said to come from a perspective about the historic practice of the King of Siam (now Thailand) giving rare albino elephants to courtiers who had displeased him, so that they might be ruined by the animals' upkeep costs. However, there is no actual record of the King giving a white elephant specifically to burden the recipients, and white elephants are considered to be highly valuable and sacred in Thai culture, so much that any white elephant that is found must immediately be brought to the King according to his legal ownership.[4] The first use of this term remains a matter of contention among historians.[5]

Rules

[edit]

Each participant supplies one wrapped gift, usually of similar value. The gifts are placed in a central location and the participants select a gift in a fixed order, often determined by numbers randomly drawn prior to the start of the game. The first person opens a wrapped gift and the turn ends. On subsequent turns, each person has the choice to either unwrap a new present or to steal another's. When a person's gift is stolen, that person can either choose another wrapped gift to open or can steal from another player.[3] Each gift can only be stolen a specified number of times per game, commonly two, after that the holder of the gift keeps it. The game is over when everyone has a present. At the end – according to some variations – the first player is allowed to swap his or her gift by stealing someone else's gift, even a gift that is out of play.[citation needed]

See also

[edit]

• Fair item allocation
• Secret Santa
• White elephant sale

Explanatory notes

[edit]

1. ^ Other names include Shifty Santa, Bad Santa, the Grinch Game, Thieving Elves, Snatchy Christmas Rat, Cutthroat Christmas, Redneck Santa, Machiavellian Christmas, Kamikaze Gift Exchange and Bastard Secret Santa.[3]

References

[edit]

1. ^ Nunez, Kirsten (2016-12-13). "What Is A White Elephant Gift Exchange? Here's What You Need To Know About This Entertaining Party Game". Bustle.com. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
2. ^ Bologna, Caroline (2017-12-18). "Why Do We Call That Holiday Game Yankee Swap, White Elephant And Dirty Santa? Unpacking the history of the popular gift exchange game". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
3. ^ a b c d McGough, Nellah Bailey (2017-12-07). "Dirty Santa Rules for Your Gift Exchange Party". Southern Living. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
4. ^ Pakditawan, Sirinya (2017-11-12). "White elephant in Thai culture, highly auspicious and symbols of royal power". The Phuket News. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
5. ^ Larsen, Derek; Watson, John J. (September 2001). "A guide map to the terrain of gift value". Psychology and Marketing. 18 (8): 889–906. doi:10.1002/mar.1034.

v t e Christmas
Blue Christmas Boxing Day Children's Day Christmas Eve Saint Nicholas Day Saint Stephen's Day Sol Invictus Yule
In Christianity	Holy Family Jesus Christ Child Mary Joseph Biblical Magi Adoration of the Magi Adoration of the Shepherds Advent Angel Gabriel Annunciation Annunciation to the shepherds Bethlehem Christmastide Epiphany Herod the Great Massacre of the Innocents flight into Egypt Nativity Fast Nativity of Jesus in art in later culture Nativity scene Neapolitan Star of Bethlehem Twelfth Night
In folklore	Badalisc Caganer Christkind Grýla Jack Frost Korvatunturi Kallikantzaros Legend of the Christmas Spider Mari Lwyd Miner's figure Nisse North Pole Old Man Winter Perchta Santa's workshop Tió de Nadal Turoń Wenceslaus Yule cat
Gift-bringers	Saint Nicholas folklore Santa Claus Befana Ded Moroz Father Christmas Grandpa Indian Joulupukki Julemanden Noel Baba Olentzero Père Noël Sinterklaas Others
Companions ofSaint Nicholas	Belsnickel Elves Knecht Ruprecht Krampus Mrs. Claus Père Fouettard Sack Man Santa Claus' daughter Santa's reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Snegurochka Zwarte Piet
Traditions	Advent calendar Advent candle Advent wreath Boar's Head Feast Candle arches Chalking the door Cards Carols by Candlelight Cavalcade of Magi Christingle Christmas jumper Christmas Peace Crackers Decorations Didukh Eggbert The Elf on the Shelf Feast of the Seven Fishes Flying Santa Gifts Google Santa Tracker Hampers Las Posadas Letters Lights Lord of Misrule Markets Midnight Mass Moravian star Mummers' play Nine Lessons and Carols NORAD Tracks Santa Nutcrackers dolls Ornaments Parades list Piñatas Poinsettia Pyramids Räuchermann Christmas seals Secret Santa Spanbaum Szopka Stamps Stockings Tree Twelve Days Vertep Wassailing Windows Yule goat Yule log
By country	Australia Bangladesh Colombia Denmark Ethiopia Finland France Germany Nazi Germany Hungary Iceland folklore Indonesia Ireland Italy Mexico New Zealand Norway Philippines Poland Romania Russia Scotland Serbia Sweden Ukraine United States American Civil War Hawaii New Mexico
Music	Carols list Operas Hit singles in the UK Hit singles in the US Music charts (Billboard) Music books Carols for Choirs The Oxford Book of Carols The New Oxford Book of Carols Piae Cantiones
Other media	In literature A Christmas Carol Films Santa Claus in film Christmas horror Poetry "Old Santeclaus with Much Delight" "A Visit from St. Nicholas" "Christmas Day in the Workhouse" "Journey of the Magi" "Tomten" Christmas television specials United States Yule Log Apollo 8 Genesis reading
Inmodernsociety	Black Friday (partying) Black Friday (shopping) Bronner's Christmas Wonderland Christmas and holiday season Christmas club Christmas creep Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004 Christmas jumpers Christmas Lectures Christmasland in New Taipei City Christmas Mountains Christmas seals Christmas truce Controversies Cyber Monday Economics GivingTuesday Grinch El Gordo Jews and Christmas In July In August NBA games NFL games Pikkujoulu SantaCon Santa's Candy Castle Santa Claus Village Scrooge Small Business Saturday Super Saturday Virginia O'Hanlon ("Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus") White Christmas Xmas
Food anddrink	Dinner Joulupöytä Julbord Julebord Kūčios Réveillon Thirteen desserts Twelve-dish supper Wigilia Sweets Baked Alaska Candy cane Cake Cookie Cozonac Fruitcake Gingerbread Kutia Makówki Melomakarono Mince pie Pampushka Panettone Pavlova Pecan pie Poppy seed roll Pudding Pumpkin pie Qurabiya Red velvet cake Sugar plum Stollen Szaloncukor Turrón Yule log Soup Menudo Borscht Sauces Bread sauce Cranberry sauce Redcurrant sauce Beverages Apple cider Champurrado Coquito Eggnog Hot chocolate Kissel Mulled wine Smoking bishop Ponche crema Snowball Dumplings Hallaca Pierogi Tamale Meat and fish Carp Gefilte fish Ham Pickled herring Roast goose Romeritos Stuffing Tourtière Turkey
Category

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White_elephant_gift_exchange&oldid=1329704816" Categories:

• Giving
• Metaphors referring to elephants
• Party games

Hidden categories:

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from December 2023

Search Search Toggle the table of contents White elephant gift exchange 7 languages Add topic