IdiomAnimalsEnglish

a scapegoat

Meaning: Someone blamed for others' faults.

Example: “The youngest employee was made the scapegoat for the missing stock.”

Origin: From Leviticus: on the Day of Atonement one goat was sacrificed and a second had the people's sins confessed over it before being driven into the wilderness. William Tyndale coined the English word in his 1530 Bible translation.

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