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WORDS AND THEIR STORIES(21) - Fall Guys / Bum Rap

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WORDS AND THEIR STORIES - Fall Guys / Bum1 Rap2
By Marilyn Rice Christiano

Broadcast: Sunday, September 19, 2004

Now the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.

Every week at this time, the Voice of America tells about popular words and expressions used in the United States. Some expressions have made a jump from sports events to everyday life. One such expression is "fall guy". A fall guy is the person who someone decides will be the loser, or victim.

The first fall guys were men who wrestled3 for money. At the end of the nineteenth century, wrestling was a very popular sport in the United States. Wrestling competitions were held not only in big cities, but also at country fairs, and travelling shows. As the sport became more popular, it became less and less of a sport. Many of the matches were fixed4. The wrestlers knew before the match, which one of them would be the winner.

The goal in wrestling is to hold your opponent shoulders down against the floor. This is called a fall. Sometimes, one of the wrestlers would be paid before the match to "take the fall". He would agree to be the loser, the fall guy.

Today, a fall guy is anyone who is talked or tricked into taking the blame for the crime or wrongdoing of someone else. There are fall guys in many situations. People who publicly take the blame when something goes wrong. A fall guy takes the rap for something wrong or illegal. He accepts responsibility and punishment for what someone else did. The fall guy may have been involved in the situation, but was not the person who should be blamed.

The word rap has meant blame for several hundred years. The expression to take the rap first was used about one hundred years ago. Another similar expression is bum rap. A person receives a bum rap, if he is found guilty of a crime, but is really innocent. Sometimes, a fall guy may not realize he is the fall guy until he is the victim of a bum rap. In that case, he may feel that he has been framed. To frame someone is to create false evidence to make an innocent person seem guilty.

Some word experts say the expression to frame someone comes from the way wood must be fitted closely around a painting or photograph to frame it. In the same way, evidence must be designed perfectly5 if it is to frame an innocent person to make him or her seem guilty.

This VOA Special English program -- Words and Their Stories was written By Marilyn Rice Christiano. This is Warren Scheer.


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1 bum Asnzb     
n.臀部；流浪汉，乞丐；vt.乞求，乞讨
参考例句：
  • A man pinched her bum on the train so she hit him.在火车上有人捏她屁股，她打了那人。
  • The penniless man had to bum a ride home.那个身无分文的人只好乞求搭车回家。
2 rap SABzi     
n.轻敲，拍击，责骂，厉声说出，说唱音乐，谈话，最少量；vi.轻敲，敲门，表演说唱音乐，畅谈；vt.抓，抢，拍击
参考例句：
  • I heard a rap on the door.我听到有轻轻的敲门声。
  • Today we are going to rap about relationships.今天我们要聊聊关系的问题。
3 wrestled c9ba15a0ecfd0f23f9150f9c8be3b994     
v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤
参考例句：
  • As a boy he had boxed and wrestled. 他小的时候又是打拳又是摔跤。
  • Armed guards wrestled with the intruder. 武装警卫和闯入者扭打起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的
参考例句：
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。
5 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地
参考例句：
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

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