scapegoat » escape goat
Spotted in the wild:
- This replacement was an escape goat for a vindictive coward. (The Writer's Association)
- In the eyes of most Somalis, these Warlords are using Ethiopia as an escape goat to achieve their political agenda… (Somali News, Google cache)
- However after the way i’ve been treated by people lately i have no reason to pass it on to autographmania, and the fact the people are still having to hide behind closed doors and then using me as an escape goat is starting to really get on my nerves. (TimeWarp Rocky Horror Forums)
Like many other eggcorns, escape goat is often used in puns, for example by the record label of this name.
1
Commentary by Arnold Zwicky , 2005/09/01 at 5:53 pm
And now from Ed Battistella in his book Bad Language (Oxford, 2005), p. 4:
I once heard someone talk about his office being made the escape goat for problems. Even though the phrase was a natural reinterpretation of the word scapegoat, it suggested to me that the speaker hadn’t read much.
2
Commentary by grant , 2005/09/02 at 1:31 pm
I saw another use of “escape goat”. It’s the first quote here.
“Girl: …The only time I was hanging out with girls was when I was cheatin’, ‘cause I needed an escape goat.”
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Commentary by dion mcinnis , 2006/08/17 at 10:29 pm
I had a director of alumni relations who worked for me once upon a time and she refused any correction…she used “escape goat,” more often than not, when referring to something that had to do with her and how others put her in that role…the role of the “escape goat.” After a couple of years of trying to “enlighten” her, I simply gave up. But, I did not make her the escape goat for my frustrations.
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Commentary by Pete , 2006/10/03 at 4:02 pm
Another sighting of escape goat:
“The Bush administration wants to give the appearance that they are cracking down on undocumented immigration and workers are an easy escape goat,” said James Thindwa, Chicago Jobs with Justice.