going to Jerusalem
Noun: A children's party game, also widely known as "musical chairs," where participants walk or march around a circle of chairs while music plays. The number of chairs is one less than the number of players. When the music stops, each player must quickly sit in a chair. The player left without a chair is eliminated. One chair is then removed for the next round, and the process repeats until only one player remains seated, who is declared the winner.
The term "going to Jerusalem" is used to name this specific game. It is a proper noun for the activity. - The children played a lively game of going to Jerusalem at the birthday party. - For our team-building exercise, we started with a round of going to Jerusalem.
- The phrase is used metaphorically to describe any competitive situation where participants are eliminated one by one until a single winner remains, often due to a scarcity of resources or positions.
- The intense competition for the promotion felt like a corporate game of going to Jerusalem.
- Musical chairs: The more common contemporary name for the same game.
- Trip to Jerusalem: An alternative name used in some regions.
- Musical chairs
While "going to Jerusalem" itself is the name of a game and not typically used as a standard idiom, the concept it represents is idiomatic. Situations are often described as being "like musical chairs" (or, less commonly, "like going to Jerusalem") to indicate a scramble for a limited number of spots. - The job market for graduates is like a brutal game of musical chairs.
- a child's game in which players march to music around a group of chairs that contains one chair less than the number of players; when the music abruptly stops the players scramble to sit and the player who does not find a chair is eliminated; then a chair is removed and the march resumes until only the winner is seated