blindman's buff
Preserved but no longer current.
A very old-established name for an old and well-known children's game. "Buff" here is short for "buffet," and is an allusion to the three buffs or pats which the "blind man" gets when he has caught a player.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “blindman's buff” mean?
A very old-established name for an old and well-known children's game. "Buff" here is short for "buffet," and is an allusion to the three buffs or pats which the "blind man" gets when he has caught a player.
Is “blindman's buff” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.