ladder lottery

English

Noun

ladder lottery (plural ladder lotteries)

1. An informal method of decision-making in Asia, based on a series of interlinked descending lines that are followed from the top (where a choice is made) to the bottom (where an outcome is revealed).
   • 2012, Nagaru Tanigawa, The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya:

     Eight lines were drawn on each sheet of paper. There were two sheets. It looked like ladder lottery to me. Maybe I was hallucinating?

   • 2015, Jianxin Wang, Chee Yap, Frontiers in Algorithmics: 9th International Workshop:

     A ladder lottery, known as “Amidakuji” in Japan, is one of the most popular lotteries. In this paper, we consider the problems of enumeration, counting, and random generation of the ladder lotteries.

Synonyms

• Amidakuji

Translations

method of decision-making

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 畫鬼腳／画鬼脚 (waak⁶ gwai² goek³)

  Mandarin: 鬼腳圖／鬼脚图 (guǐjiǎotú)

• Japanese: あみだくじ (Amida-kuji)
• Korean: 사다리타기 (sadaritagi), ^{(please verify)} 사다리 게임 (sadari geim)
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} Амидакудзи (Amidakudzi)