blame game
17
4.8
- noun
- /bleɪm ɡeɪm/
- Informal
:
juego de culpas
- No need to play the blame game, Allison.
- play the blame game
- stop the blame game
- continue the blame game
I'll By moving beyond the June blame game.
- I'll By moving beyond the June blame game.
Examples
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Instead of taking responsibility, the team engaged in a lengthy blame game over who caused the project's failure.
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There's no time for blame games.
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Playing the blame game, are we?
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This is not the time to play the blame game!
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All right, enough of the blame game.
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Let's not play the blame game tonight, okay?
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Let's get over the blame game and just help each other out.
Blog text (3) -
Now, let's not play the shame and blame game.
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And as long as we keep playing the blame game, we won't get anywhere.
Blog text (27) -
Pointing fingers or playing the blame game doesn't help us find solutions.
Blog text (7)
Synonyms
18
4.6
Blaming other people for a problem instead of trying to fix it
2
8.8
A situation where group members blame or attack each other and harm the group's chances
1
7.1
Act of putting blame on others to avoid doing a job you should do
Telling others they are to blame, often in public
Antonyms
How Accusatory
Surface Forms
Morphology
Combining 'blame' (fault) with 'game' (an activity or competitive play) gives a learner a reasonable hint that the phrase refers to an activity of blaming, so a B1 learner who knows both words will probably guess it involves people blaming others. However, the idiomatic nuance — that it refers specifically to a mutual, strategic process to avoid responsibility rather than any literal game — is not fully predictable from the parts, so it is only partly transparent.
Etymology
Blame game paints a picture of a blame match, a game where people point fingers at others instead of fixing a problem. So, it means a situation where people blame each other to 'avoid taking responsibility' rather than solve the real issue.