White elephant gift exchange

What It Means

A white elephant gift exchange is a party game in which every guest arrives with one wrapped gift, usually kept under a price the host sets, and everyone takes a turn at the pile hoping to go home with the best gift in the room. Merriam-Webster notes the same game goes by Yankee swap and dirty Santa. How turns work, and whether a gift can change hands once it's opened, is decided by each group.

How People Say It

• "Remember, the limit's $25 this year."
• "Who drew number one?"
• "I'm hoping nobody takes the blanket from me."

The Breakdown

Worked example. An office party of 12 agrees on a $25 limit. These are example numbers.

What the result means. Your own cost depends only on the limit and what you spend on wrapping. The group total grows with every player who joins.

House rulesFamily rulesA short list of clear, specific statements about the behavior a family expects, agreed on by the adults and applied the same way every time. See more to settle before the first turn. Groups play this game in different ways, so agree on these out loud:

• The price limit, and whether handmade or regifted items count.
• How turn order is picked, such as numbers drawn from a bowl.
• Whether an opened gift can be taken by another player, and how many times one gift can move.
• When the game ends.

Where It Comes From

A white elephant is a pale Asian elephant, held sacred in parts of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar, according to Merriam-Webster. A well-known storyUser storyA short description of something a product should do, written from the point of view of the person who needs it, often in the form "As a, I want, so that." See more says the kings of Siam (now Thailand) gave these animals to people they wanted to ruin, since the elephant was costly to feed and too revered to put to work. The Oxford English Dictionary says this story is now thought to have no historical basis. In everyday English the phrase came to mean something expensive to keep that brings little benefit, and Cambridge Dictionary also records it for something its owner no longer wants that may be offered to others.

Good to Know

Put the price limit and the date in the invitation, so guests shop with the same number in mind. Rules differ between families and offices, so read your group's version aloud before anyone opens a gift.

Related Terms and Categories

• Secret Santa

  A group gift exchange in which each person secretly draws one other member's name and gives that person a gift anonymously.

• Holiday budget

  A spending plan for the holiday season that sets how much you'll spend on gifts, food, travel and decorations before the shopping starts.

• Hosting checklist

  A list of everything to prepare before guests arrive, from the menu and seating to keeping buffet food at safe temperatures for the whole party.

Holidays and celebrations