fall guy
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fall guy
A scapegoat; someone who takes the "fall" (consequences) for someone else. The jurors didn't believe that Mike actually murdered the victim. They felt that he was set up by his brother as a fall guy.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
fall guy
1. A scapegoat, one who is blamed for the actions of others. For example, He refused to be the fall guy for his colleagues. This expression uses fall in the sense of "consequences" or "blame," which originated in prison slang. [Slang; early 1900s] Also see take the fall.
2. An easy victim, one who is readily duped. For example, His friends had marked him as the fall guy-they knew he would believe their ruse. [Slang; early 1900s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
fall guy
n. a victim; a dupe; the guy who takes the fall. (Originally underworld.) I didn’t want to be the fall guy, so I sat out the last job.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
- be left in charge (of someone or something)
- accompany (one) on a/(one's) journey
- accompany on a journey
- be put in charge (of someone or something)
- a stranger to (someone or something)
- be out of (one's) league
- be out of somebody's league
- be in bad with (someone)
- (one) puts (one's) pants on one leg at a time
- bargain for (someone or something) with (someone)