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Glite Dictionary
going to Jerusalem

going to Jerusalem

1 7.4
A children's game where players walk around chairs, sit when music stops, and one player leaves each round
  • noun
  • Baby Talk
translation icon : sillas musicales
  • We played going to Jerusalem at the birthday party.

Examples

  • Every time the music stopped in going to Jerusalem, someone was left standing and had to cheer for the others.

  • The teacher set up a row of chairs for a round of going to Jerusalem in the gym.

  • At the birthday party, the children played going to Jerusalem and laughed as they rushed for seats.

  • Is going to Jerusalem your favorite game?

  • The children laughed and ran in circles, excitedly playing going to Jerusalem during the birthday party.

  • In gym class, the teacher organized a fun game of going to Jerusalem for everyone to enjoy.

  • As the music played, the kids eagerly participated in going to Jerusalem, trying to grab a chair before it stopped.

Synonyms

musical chairs
vsgoing to Jerusalem
3 2.7

A game where players walk around chairs and sit when the music stops

is the same game but uses a different name

Surface Forms

going to Jerusalem singular
going to Jerusalems plural

Morphology

going + to + Jerusalem

This phrase is a conventional name for a children’s game and its meaning (the musical-chairs style activity) cannot be derived from the literal constituents 'going' + 'to' + 'Jerusalem' (which would normally indicate travel to a city). The sense is culture-specific and lexicalized, so a B1 learner who knows the words would not predict the game meaning without prior exposure.

Etymology

The game going to Jerusalem may come from old pilgrimages to the city of Jerusalem. One popular story says those long journeys sometimes left people behind, and the game copies that image: players walk around chairs and rush for a seat when the music stops, so not everyone 'gets a seat'.