Examples
- When the project failed, the managers just passed the buck to each other.
- Don't pass the buck – you made the mistake, so you should fix it.
How to use it
Informal. Often "pass the buck to someone". The related phrase "the buck stops here" means you accept responsibility.
Where it comes from
From poker in 19th-century America, where a marker called a "buck" showed whose turn it was to deal.