La Vache Qui Tache

La vache qui tache, ("The Cow Who Stains") is a party game for any number of players, originally started in France with a definite history that has been lost in the mists of time. The only prop required is a cork, one end of which has been blackened in a candle flame.

Assign each player a number. Player one calls out "Je suis la vache qui tache sans taches numéro 1 et j'appelle la vache sans taches numéro X" ("I am the spotted cow with zero spots number 1, and I call the cow with zero spots number X"), where X is the number of any other player. When the game first starts no-one has any spots, so the number of spots is zero, or "sans tache". The next player, X, must immediately repeat the phrase, using his/her own number and another player for X ("I am the spotted cow with zero spots number X, and I call the cow with zero spots number Y"), where Y is the number of any other player. The game repeats this way until someone makes a mistake.

If a player makes a mistake, like mixing up the cow numbers, taking too long to respond, or calling the wrong number of spots (explained below), that player gets "spotted", using the blackened cork to make a big round black dot on his face. If a player gets one spot, then that player must say "I am the spotted cow with one spot..." and so on for the number of spots received.

Each mistake earns a player another spot (and, of course, both your number of spots and the number of spots of the player you're calling must be taken into account every time you call another player). Exactly when the game ends is a little ambiguous, but usually involves a lot of giggling and someone running away from the table to avoid getting spotted. Alternatively, it could end when someone gets a certain number of spots.

Although the game is popular with children, it was originally a drinking game, and a French idiom for being falling-down-drunk is "black faced" in reference to this game.