Round Robin

A sporting tournament, in which all competitors play against one another in turn, dates in this sense form the late 19th century. Before this, as recorded in The Weekly Journal dated January 1730, “A round robin is a name given by seamen to an instrument on which they sign their names round in a circle, to prevent the ring-leader being discovered by it, if found.” This appears to be a very different meaning to the current modern one. Nevertheless, there could be a link because the French rond rouban meaning ‘round ribbon’ was also a petition in the 17th and 18th centuries, whereby names in the petition were written in a circular, ribbon format so that ringleaders could not be singled out. The seamen’s story is a definite citation but the French connection is yet to be verified. Either way, it appears that the bird, robin redbreast, has nothing to do with the origin of the expression.