When I asked my secretary Miss Brown why she hadn't mailed out these very important letters to customers, she passed the buck to our office boy for not having enough stamps ready. Could you explain “pass the buck”?

My comments:

If you pass the buck, you shirk your responsibility by letting others do the job.

This phrase originates from the game of poker but was made famous by former US President Harry Truman, who had “The Buck Stops Here” as a motto and put it on a sign on his desk.

The buck stops here?

It’s my responsibility. I’ll do it.

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Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網(wǎng)立場無關(guān)。歡迎大家討論學(xué)術(shù)問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發(fā)布一切違反國家現(xiàn)行法律法規(guī)的內(nèi)容。

Zhang Xin has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.