whipping boy

English

Etymology

Middle English wippen "flap violently", from Proto-Germanic wipp-, from Proto-Indo-European wib- "move quickly". Whipping boy first recorded 1647.

Noun

whipping boy (plural whipping boys)

Someone punished for the errors of others, historically a boy that was whipped in the stead of a misbehaving prince.
As the whipping boy, he must take the whippings for the royal heir, Prince Brat.

Synonyms

scapegoat

Translations

someone punished for the errors of others

Chinese:
Mandarin: 替罪羊 (zh)
French: lampiste (fr) m, f, pigeon (fr) m

German: Prügelknabe (de) m
Russian: ма́льчик для битья́ (ru) m (málʹčik dlja bitʹjá), козел отпуще́ния m (kozel otpuščénija); крайний (ru) m (krajnij), стре́лочник (ru) m (stréločnik)
Swedish: strykpojke (sv) c, strykgosse (sv) c

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