How do you say “Pass the buck” in French?
The closest natural French equivalent is se décharger de sa responsabilité sur quelqu'un, which literally means “to unload one's responsibility onto someone”. English speakers use pass the buck to mean to avoid responsibility by making someone else deal with a problem or decision. This makes the avoidance explicit. “Se renvoyer la balle” suits a problem passed back and forth. Register: neutral. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural French
se décharger de sa responsabilité sur quelqu'un
/sə deʃaʁʒe də sa ʁɛspɔ̃sabilite syʁ kɛlkœ̃/
- Literal meaning
- “to unload one's responsibility onto someone”
- Register
- neutral
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
94 out of 100
What a native French speaker would actually say
“Se décharger de sa responsabilité” makes the avoidance clear. It is critical: someone is making another person deal with something they should handle themselves.
For departments sending a problem back and forth, “se renvoyer la balle” is particularly natural. “Rejeter la faute” is narrower: it means shifting blame.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone4 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity1 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
What are other ways to say it in French?
se renvoyer la balle
Literally: “to send the ball back to each other”
Especially useful when several people or departments keep referring the matter back.
rejeter la faute sur quelqu'un
Literally: “to throw the fault onto someone”
Use for blame specifically, not every task or decision.
Common translation traps
passer le dollar
“Buck” is not a dollar in this expression; the idiom concerns responsibility.
The notes above explain why these versions do not work in this context in French.
In context
English
He passed the buck to his assistant.
French
Il s'est déchargé de sa responsabilité sur son assistant.
English
The two departments kept passing the buck.
French
Les deux services n'arrêtaient pas de se renvoyer la balle.
Related expressions
- What “Pass the buck” means in English
- Throw someone under the bus, Blame or betray someone to protect yourself.
- Face the music, Accept unpleasant consequences for your actions
Last updated 2026-09-16