a game of musical chairs

a game of musical chairs

A situation in which people or things are moved, shuffled, or rearranged from one position to another. After the boss resigned, it was a regular game of musical chairs in the company to figure out who would take over for whom. It's been a game of musical chairs trying to create enough space in the living room for Alex's birthday party this weekend.
See also: chair, game, musical, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • musical
  • too many cooks spoil the broth
  • too many cooks spoil the soup
  • too many cooks spoil the stew
  • shuffle off
  • boss man
  • boss lady
  • (one's) blood is up
  • boss
References in periodicals archive
Set up chairs indoors or outdoors for a game of musical chairs. Each child should place his or her hat on a chair, and when the music stops and the children race to their seats, they pick up a newAaAaAeAeAaAeAeA hat.
How To Entertain Your Child On Halloween
"We are seeing a game of musical chairs in which the best and brightest are being lured from one state to another, and also from the public sector to higher-paying jobs in the private sector," says Robert Schaeffer, public education director for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, or FairTest.
Test-makers wanted
In what seems to be a game of musical chairs, PricewaterhouseCoopers has signed an 800,000 s/f sublease at 300 Madison Ave., while simultaneously signing a deal to sublet 283,000 s/f of space at its 1177 Ave.
Pricewaterhouse leases 800,000 s/f at 300 Mad