Round-robin

The term round-robin is used in several contexts and usually means that a number of things are taking turns at something, for example a "round-robin-party" where participants walk door to door for small parties at each participant's habitat. A round-robin letter is usually taken to refer to a letter from a large group of subordinates criticising their leadership; such a letter is typically only sent if the number of signatories has become too large for individual retribution to be taken against them.

In the UK 'round robin' is frequently incorrectly used to mean a letter copied and sent to multiple recipients, usually at Christmas, detailing family news. It is a much derided and frequently parodied form of communication, in particular its upbeat emphasis on children's achievements, however trivial. A better description of this is 'circular letter', rather than 'round robin'.

Origin

The term comes from the French word ruban which actually means ribbon, so somewhere in history this word was corrupted and idiomized. In the 17th or 18th century, when peasants in France wanted to complain to the king using a petition, the usual reaction from the monarch was to seize the two or three people on top of that petition list and execute them, so naturally nobody wanted to have his name on top of it. In order to stop this form of arbitrary vengeance, the names were signed in a circle at the bottom of the petition (like a ribbon), so that no one would be on top of the list and thus all participants took equal blame for the petition. The principle was later also used by sailors in the British Royal Navy.

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Origin

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