round robin
noun

- a letter that you send to a lot of people, for example at Christmas, telling them what you have done that year

- a letter, usually of demands or complaints, that is signed by many people

- a written petition, memorial, or protest to which the signatures are affixed in a circle so as not to indicate who signed first

- a tournament in which every contestant meets every other contestant in turn

Cambridge Dictionary, Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster

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PHRASE ORIGIN



16th-17th century French sailors and petitioners who wanted to protest or petition their superiors without identifying ringleaders would sign their names in a circle (or attach their signatures on ribbons arranged in a circle. This way, no single name appeared "first" or "at the top" - making it impossible to identify the instigator or primary troublemaker. Hence the French phrase ruban rond, which later became anglizised to “Round Robin" in the early 1700s, probably due to a mis-hearing of ruban as “Robin”.

By the late 19th/early 20th century the Round Robin Christmas letter meant a duplicated letter updating distant relatives and friends on the year's events. The connection to "robin" has become so tenuous that many people assume it refers to the bird, leading to Christmas cards with actual robins on them.
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DEFINITIONS

“The round-robin letter: proof that some people believe their year was so extraordinary it deserves to be syndicated.”

“A seasonal masterpiece in which humblebrag meets Helvetica.”

"A reminder that some people treat Christmas not as a holiday, but as an annual performance review—circulated."

“Nothing humbles you faster than a round-robin that casually mentions someone’s child ‘taking a gap year to crew a superyacht in the Med’ while yours is mastering the art of instant noodles.”

“I love Christmas letters—the annual reminder that, somewhere out there, a Labrador has a more impressive CV than I do.”

"The Christmas round-robin: transforming 'We're fine, thanks' into an episodic newsletter that makes you wonder if you accidentally subscribed to someone's memoir serialization."

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SYNONYMS

rotation schedule, cyclic tournament, sequential matchup, equitable draw, circulating petition, group letter, fair rotation, turn-taking system, loop assignment, take turns fairly, everyone pitches in, draw straws in order, daisy chain duties, bucket brigade tasks, relay race, ROUND ROBIN

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DEAR READER

Please stay tuned mid-morning for a special, OWAD Xmas ‘ROUND ROBIN’… it’s an exciting recap of all the words of 2025.

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P L E A S E   S U P P O R T   O W A D