# What Do You Call This Kind of Gift Exchange? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 16, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181 "2004-12-16T17:46:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/1 "2004-12-16T17:46:03Z")
Every year, my office has a gift exchange party, the form and name of which seems to change each time. Here’s the gist of it: [ol] [li]Everyone buys a gift, which are all placed on a table (wrapped).[/li][li]Everyone draws a number.[/li][li]Person #1 chooses a gift at random and opens it.[/li][li]Person #2 can either 1) choose and open another gift from the table, or 2) “steal” the gift from person #1. If person #1 has the gift stolen, s/he can choose another from the table.[/li][/ol] Now’s where it gets murky. Each subsequent person can select a gift from the table, or steal one of the previous gifts. Where the rules seem to differ is whether or not a person can steal only from the person immediately before them, can steal _anybody’s_ gift, if a particular gift can only stolen once, if a particular person can only be stolen from once, and probably more permutations I haven’t considered. So, have you heard of this kind of thing before? What do you call it, and were there any particular variations on the rules? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/2 "2004-12-16T17:49:37Z")
It’s called “Dirty Santa” or “Dirty Christmas” around here. I’ve not done it before but apparently that’s what we’re doing at our family Christmas party this weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/3 "2004-12-16T17:51:03Z")
Can’t give you a name, but a couple additional possibilities– -Each person chooses a gift, then decides if they want to keep it or swap it. -After the last person is done, the first person can then swap his/her gift with someone. We did this at a friends house a couple years ago. It’s fun if you have one gift that’s larger than all the others, because it tends to get swapped around a lot 😃 ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/4 "2004-12-16T18:01:49Z")
Ah yes, **Dirty Santa**. Sounds nasty don’t it? The basics are: gifts are piled up and numbers are written down on little pieces of paper. everybody draws a number and starting with number 1, that person picks out a gift and opens it. number 2 can either choose to take the gift or pick out and open another. number 3 can take gift 1 or 2 or pick out and open another, and so on. if somebody takes your gift you get to open another gift. each gift can only change hands three times throughout the game. if you have the gift on the third exchange, it’s yours to keep. well, at least in the version I know. Ummmmmmmmm… yep, it’s as dumbass as it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/5 "2004-12-16T18:12:33Z")
I’ve always called that a Yankee Swap, we do it each year at my book club holiday party. For me, personally, it’s maddening because it takes so long. I want the gift exchange to be OVER so we can move on to dessert! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/6 "2004-12-16T18:17:27Z")
Yankee Swap, or Chinese gift exchange. No reason why it should be called Chinese, and I’m among Yankees, so we go with the former. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/7 "2004-12-16T18:19:49Z")
I’ve always heard it called a “Chinese auction”. Please don’t make me sit in the corner for being a bad un-PC girl; I’ve never heard it called _anything_ else. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/8 "2004-12-16T18:52:25Z")
I think “Dirty Santa” is waaay too close to “Dirty Sanchez” in pronunciation for my tastes. 😉 I forgot to mention that we’ve called it a “Yankee Robber” exchange in recent years. _:: casts **Zsofia** into the corner ::_ ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/9 "2004-12-16T18:55:17Z")
Wow, we do a variation on this every year at my company Christmas party, and we always just call it the gift exchange. I wonder if we put “Yankee Swap” on next year’s invitation if anyone will get it. By the way, at my company, about three-fourths of the gifts are some form of booze, which get stolen over and over, making for a rather lengthy process (over 30 people participating). I don’t like liquor, though, so I don’t get to join in so much. That’s okay with me, I would feel rotten stealing somebody’s precious bottle of Kahlua, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/10 "2004-12-16T19:03:49Z")
I’ve heard the term Yankee Swap (mostly from online people) in the past year or so. My family has done this for years, and all I can ever recall hearing it referred to as is “the stealing game”. Sheesh. And my family is the type that would LOVE to say they play something named Dirty Santa. ---
**Author:** ![luluBahrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@luluBahrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luluBahrain)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/11 "2004-12-16T19:15:38Z")
We just played this at my women’s group last night. We called it Legal Steal. Maybe that’s just because we were at church and Dirty Santa is a bit pornographic sounding… actaully, I am willing to bet that there is a porno by that name. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/12 "2004-12-16T19:25:07Z")
I’ve never heard of that–gets around the likelihood of person #1 picking the bottle-shaped one if you do it the usual way, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/13 "2004-12-16T19:38:07Z")
_Secret Santa_ is what they call it here. We go to one for both my company and my wife’s each year. If kids are going to be there too it may be best to have a seperate gift for them that’s there’s to keep. Little kids very well may break down crying otherwise if someone takes away a gift they wanted. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/14 "2004-12-16T19:39:25Z")
That’s “theirs” dang it. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/15 "2004-12-16T20:00:56Z")
I’ve always heard it called a “Chinese” gift excahnge. It’s what my family’s been doing for the last couple of years. I’ve got mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it does make shopping easier. On the other hand, you you tend to wind up with a fairly boring generic gift which takes a lot of the anticipation out of Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/16 "2004-12-16T20:54:42Z")
Our office calls it a Chinese gift exchange, too and I hate it. First they make us take a five hour trip to the meeting. No one else has to go this far, just my office. Then we have boring meetings, and in the middle of it this CHinese Auction which makes me later to drive home! And my boyfriend’s Chinese! Why is it called Chinese, unless I’m auctioning him off? ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/17 "2004-12-16T20:58:33Z")
we always call it the cajun christmas swap down here in mississippi. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/18 "2004-12-16T21:23:24Z")
I’ve always called it a Yankee Swap or Yankee Gift Exchange. I’ve **never** heard of a Dirty Santa or Chinese Gift Exchange. Must be one of those regional things. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/19 "2004-12-16T21:28:31Z")
Swear to Og, I made it up on the spot for a gathering of friends down here in El Lay. We were peddling out Nerf toys from the back of a van, but the idea’s the same. 1. At the start of a “round,” a person without a toy gets a toy. 2. The receiver can either choose to keep a toy, or swap a toy with another (prior) receiver. 3. If the swap occurrs, the swapee can either choose to live with the choice, or swap with someone else _who hasn’t already swapped this round._ 4. Repeat step 3 until everyone’s happy, or the last swapee is stuck with an unwanted toy. 5. Repeat from step 1 until all toys are gone. Never heard of a name for this system until now, though. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181/20 "2004-12-16T23:13:59Z")
Good to know I won’t be alone in the corner, at least. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-kind-of-gift-exchange/280181.md?page=2)