Blaming Others With a Goat: A 'Scapegoat'
2022-08-28
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1And now, Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English.
2Many of our English expressions come from our interactions with or observations of animals.
3Today we talk about an animal that gets blamed for a lot of bad things - a goat!
4To be more exact, we are talking about a scapegoat.
5A scapegoat is a person who is the receiver of blame and anger about a situation.
6Often the anger is without reason.
7So, if someone is unfairly blamed for something, that person could be called a scapegoat.
8"Scapegoat" combines the English words "escape" and "goat."
9The word has an interesting history. But before we hear that, let's hear the word used in some examples.
10Just because Tabitha had made mistakes in the past, she became the scapegoat in her family for everything that went wrong.
11But in fact, her sisters did worse things than she did.
12The builder of a new apartment building became the scapegoat for changes to the neighborhood.
13Houses became more expensive and poorer people began moving out.
14But in reality, wealthy people had been moving into the area for many years.
15Now, let's talk about the origin: Where does this word come from?
16Experts with Merriam Webster say "scapegoat" is connected to religion.
17On the dictionary's website, they explain that on a certain religious holiday, ancient Hebrews would sacrifice one goat and lead another one into the wilderness.
18The goat sent to the wilderness carried all the sins of the people.
19So historically speaking, a scapegoat is an actual goat that takes on the sins of others.
20In other words, the goat carried the sins of other people away with it.
21In our modern usage, a scapegoat is someone who bears the blame for others.
22In English, there is another word that has a similar meaning.
23A "fall guy" is someone who is blamed for something that someone else did.
24The word "fall guy" suggests that the person was set up for something they did not do.
25Here's an example:
26Lawyers for the defendant argued that their client was being set up by her boss.
27She was simply a fall guy for her boss's crimes. He was the real guilty party.
28And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.
1And now, Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English. 2Many of our English expressions come from our interactions with or observations of animals. Today we talk about an animal that gets blamed for a lot of bad things - a goat! 3To be more exact, we are talking about a scapegoat. 4A scapegoat is a person who is the receiver of blame and anger about a situation. Often the anger is without reason. So, if someone is unfairly blamed for something, that person could be called a scapegoat. 5"Scapegoat" combines the English words "escape" and "goat." The word has an interesting history. But before we hear that, let's hear the word used in some examples. 6Just because Tabitha had made mistakes in the past, she became the scapegoat in her family for everything that went wrong. But in fact, her sisters did worse things than she did. 7The builder of a new apartment building became the scapegoat for changes to the neighborhood. Houses became more expensive and poorer people began moving out. But in reality, wealthy people had been moving into the area for many years. 8Now, let's talk about the origin: Where does this word come from? 9Experts with Merriam Webster say "scapegoat" is connected to religion. On the dictionary's website, they explain that on a certain religious holiday, ancient Hebrews would sacrifice one goat and lead another one into the wilderness. The goat sent to the wilderness carried all the sins of the people. 10So historically speaking, a scapegoat is an actual goat that takes on the sins of others. In other words, the goat carried the sins of other people away with it. 11In our modern usage, a scapegoat is someone who bears the blame for others. 12In English, there is another word that has a similar meaning. A "fall guy" is someone who is blamed for something that someone else did. The word "fall guy" suggests that the person was set up for something they did not do. 13Here's an example: 14Lawyers for the defendant argued that their client was being set up by her boss. She was simply a fall guy for her boss's crimes. He was the real guilty party. 15And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo. 16Anna Matteo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 17___________________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19origin - n. the point where something begins 20sacrifice - n. something offered as a religious act : an act of giving up something especially for the sake of someone or something else 21sin - n. an action that breaks a religious law : an action that is or is felt to be bad 22___________________________________________________________________ 23We want to hear from you. Do you have a similar expressions in your language? In the Comments section, you can also practice using any of the expressions from the story. 24We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 25Write your comment in the box. 26Under the box, you can see four images for social media accounts. They are for Disqus, Facebook, Twitter and Google. 27Click on one image and a box appears. Enter the login for your social media account. Or you may create one on the Disqus system. It is the blue circle with "D" on it. It is free. 28Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.