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 perfectly if it is to frame an innocent person to make him or her seem guilty.
