| 释义 |
whipping boy
whipping boyn.1. A scapegoat.2. A boy formerly raised with a prince or other young nobleman and whipped for the latter's misdeeds.whipping boy n a person of little importance who is blamed for the errors, incompetence, etc, of others, esp his superiors; scapegoat [C17: originally referring to a boy who was educated with a prince and who received punishment for any faults committed by the prince]whip′ping boy`
n. 1. a person who is made to bear the blame for another's mistake; scapegoat. 2. (formerly) a boy educated along with and taking punishment in place of a young prince or nobleman. whipping boy - Meaning "scapegoat," the phrase derives from the boy formerly raised with a prince or other young nobleman and whipped for the latter's misdeeds.See also related terms for prince.Thesaurus| Noun | 1. | whipping boy - someone who is punished for the errors of othersscapegoatvictim - an unfortunate person who suffers from some adverse circumstance |
whipping boynounOne who is made an object of blame:goat, scapegoat.Slang: fall guy, patsy.Translationswhipping boy
whipping boyA person or thing that is blamed for problems, often those caused by someone or something else. Bobby got tired of being the whipping boy for the mischief caused by his older brothers. Video games have become the whipping boy for the violent behavior displayed by today's youth.See also: boy, whippingwhipping boyFig. someone who is punished for someone else's misdeeds. The president has turned out to be the whipping boy for his party.See also: boy, whippingwhipping boyA scapegoat, as in This department's always been the whipping boy when things don't go well. This expression alludes to the former practice of keeping a boy to be whipped in place of a prince who was to be punished. [Early 1900s] See also: boy, whippinga whipping boy If someone is a whipping boy, people blame them when things go wrong. `There won't be a white paper,' one minister said yesterday. `It wouldn't solve anything. It would just make the prime minister a whipping boy for both the left and right.' This is the story of how America's favorite whipping boy became her favorite son. Note: A whipping boy was a boy who was educated with a prince and was punished for the prince's mistakes because tutors were not allowed to hit the prince. See also: boy, whippinga ˈwhipping boy a person who is blamed or punished for the mistakes of another person: The directors are clearly responsible for what happened, but they’re sure to find a whipping boy lower down the company. ♢ It was your fault, and I am not going to be your whipping boy.In the past when a royal prince made a mistake in his lessons, another boy was whipped (= punished) for his mistakes.See also: boy, whippingwhipping boy, aA scapegoat; one who receives the blame and/or punishment for another’s mistakes or misdeeds. The term comes from the early practice of keeping a boy to be whipped in place of a prince who was to be punished. Sir William Petrie used the term figuratively in Ancient Egypt (1914): “With some writers . . . Manetho is the whipping-boy, who must always be flogged when anything is not understood.”See also: whippingwhipping boy
whipping boysurrogate sufferer for delinquent prince. [Eur. Hist.: Brewer Note-Book, 942]See: Substitutionwhipping boy
Synonyms for whipping boynoun one who is made an object of blameSynonyms- goat
- scapegoat
- fall guy
- patsy
Synonyms for whipping boynoun someone who is punished for the errors of othersSynonymsRelated Words |