Definition
黑锅 is a figurative noun meaning 'unjust blame' or 'scapegoat', from the image of carrying a black pot that shows dirt — the stain of wrongdoing sticks to you even though you're innocent. You almost always see it with the verb 背 (bēi 'carry on one's back') in the fixed phrase 背黑锅, meaning 'to take the fall' or 'to be made a scapegoat'. The literal translation 'black pot' misleads; this is a cultural idiom, not a physical object.
n.
unfair blamescapegoat (in the idiom 背黑锅)
Examples
- 黑锅。Tā tì biérén bēi le hēi guō.He took the blame for someone else.
- 黑锅。Wǒ bù xiǎng bēi zhè ge hēi guō.I don't want to be the scapegoat for this.
- ，。Gōngsī chū le shì, zǒng shì ràng yuángōng bēi hēi guō.When the company has trouble, they always make employees take the blame.
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