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替死鬼 (tì sǐ guǐ) — scapegoat (colloquial, someone who takes the blame for others)

Definition

A colloquial term for someone pushed to take the blame or punishment for others. Carries a stronger sense of being sacrificed than the more neutral 背锅侠.

noun
scapegoat (colloquial, someone who takes the blame for others)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，替死鬼。
    Zhè jiàn shì míng míng bú shì tā zuò de, tā què chéng le tì sǐ guǐ.
    He clearly didn't do this, but he became the scapegoat.
  • ，替死鬼。
    Lǎo bǎn chū liǎo shì, zǒng zhǎo xià shǔ dāng tì sǐ guǐ.
    When something goes wrong, the boss always finds a subordinate to be the scapegoat.
  • 替死鬼，。
    Wǒ bù xiǎng dāng dà jiā de tì sǐ guǐ, zhè jiàn shì gēn wǒ méi guān xi.
    I don't want to be everyone's scapegoat; this has nothing to do with me.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

替死take death in place
替tìsubstitute死sǐdeath
动宾Verb + object
鬼guǐperson

替死 means taking death in place, and 鬼 marks the person cast in that role.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

替 combines 竝, two figures side by side, with 曰; the picture shows those figures changing places.

Open 替 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
歹歹dǎi
Sound part声符shēngfú
尸
尸shī死sǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

死 is built from 歹 and 尸: 歹 is the part tied to the meaning, and 尸 gives the sound.

Open 死 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

鬼 originally drew a kneeling figure with an ugly face, perhaps a mask; the small lower right dot is a later added tail.

Open 鬼 →
Appears in
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