英単語についてのメルマガArcaMax、Apr. 18の内容は "scapegoat" 及び同様な意味に使われる表現の "Whipping boy" と "Fall guy" の由来についてでした。 全部を引用すると長いのと "Whipping boy"/ "Fall guy" は聞いた事がない表現だったので、ここでは "scapegoat" の語源だけ引用します。
Scapegoat: Blame the Ancients! On Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, the ancient Hebrews would symbolically seek a fresh start by transferring all their sins to two goats.
One goat was sacrificed, but the other one, bearing the sins of the people, was led to the desert and allowed to escape. William Tyndale's English translation of the Old Testament in 1530 referred to this animal as a "scapegoote," short for "escape goat." Since then, anyone who's blamed for the sins of others has been called a "scapegoat."
Scapegoat: Blame the Ancients! On Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, the ancient Hebrews would symbolically seek a fresh start by transferring all their sins to two goats.
One goat was sacrificed, but the other one, bearing the sins of the people, was led to the desert and allowed to escape. William Tyndale's English translation of the Old Testament in 1530 referred to this animal as a "scapegoote," short for "escape goat." Since then, anyone who's blamed for the sins of others has been called a "scapegoat."
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