to hold the bag
11
8.8
- idiom
- Informal
:
pagar el pato
- When the project failed, I ended up holding the bag for everyone else's mistakes.
- left holding the bag
They're often rewarded by society and you are left holding the bag.
- They're often rewarded by society and you are left holding the bag.
- Scapegoating is often done to get the scapegoater off the hook and leaves the scapegoat holding the bag and the beat goes on.
- Levine points out that Carl is himself taking the risk of becoming the last one holding the bag.
- Most of the main characters in this story, when they do talk, talk about how they will not be the one left holding the bag.
- And if there's another crash, you know, the guys like Andy and John will get out early, but the poor and middle class will be left holding the bag as they always do.
- And then I got caught holding the bag and I bought a bunch of bad deals that didn't sell once they raised rates and the market cooled off.
- And you Fast forward to today, we're left with holding the bag.
Examples
-
I'm totally against that, as more often than not, the parent gets left holding the bag or debt.
Blog text (30) -
And if there's another crash, you know, the guys like Andy and John will get out early, but the poor and middle class will be left holding the bag as they always do.
-
And I was left sort of holding the bag, trying to protect you.
Fiction book (1990) -
Will the US government be left holding the bag for its entire investment?
Blog text (10) -
Your partners left you holding the bag.
Fiction book (1992) -
Looks like John Q. Public is going to be left holding the bag again.
Blog text (13) -
By not being careful with whom they lend money, they are stuck holding the bag in this situation.
Blog text (15) -
The FBI will be left holding the bag before the public.
Blog text (28) -
How do I know you won't leave me holding the bag?
-
I wasn't shocked to be left holding the bag on more than one occasion.
Blog text (25)
Synonyms
55
7.5
Accept blame or punishment, often instead of someone else
1
7.9
To accept blame or responsibility that others refuse
1
9.1
Being the only person who must deal with a problem after others avoid it
1
8.8
To have the only responsibility for a hard problem when others avoid it
To be someone's fault or responsibility
Antonyms
How Blamed
- Informal
55
7.5
- Informal
11
8.8
65
6.3
∞
1.6
251
4.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
hold + the + bag
The idiomatic sense 'to be left with the blame or responsibility' does not follow transparently from 'hold' (to grasp or keep) plus 'bag' (a container). The connection between literally holding a bag and being blamed or left responsible is culturally conditioned and unpredictable, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would likely not infer the meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Hold the bag may come from a trick by thieves: when they ran away one person was left holding a stolen bag and was the one caught. That's why hold the bag now means 'to be left with the blame or responsibility'.