Meaning of pass the buck in English:
pass the buck
phrase
informalShift the responsibility for something to someone else.
- ‘elected political leaders cannot pass the buck for crisis decisions to any alternative source of authority’
- ‘It seems to me that it is far easier to pass the buck than to take personal responsibility for our own actions.’
- ‘The government can pass the buck to companies, and workers can abdicate all responsibility.’
- ‘Instead they have been engaged in the old game of passing the buck, and shifting all blame onto the civil service.’
- ‘I don't know if it's been chief and council passing the buck or the co-manager passing the buck.’
- ‘It seems they keep on passing the buck - no one wants to accept responsibility.’
- ‘But have any so breezily dodged responsibility and so glibly passed the buck?’
- ‘What is especially telling is the depiction of a bureaucracy unable to react, passing the buck and avoiding responsibility.’
- ‘This is unfair and shows that a hidden tax is often a devious tax, especially when the Government passes the buck to local councils and then disclaims all responsibility for what is going on.’
- ‘Have you ever noticed, ironically, that the folks who spend so much time talking about ‘responsibility’ are usually the first to try to pass the buck?’
- ‘It seems as if government departments are playing games with us, passing the buck from one minister to another.’
Are You Learning English? Here Are Our Top English Tips