The idiom I usually hear for being saddled with the blame for someone else's mistake is "to be left holding the bag". "Carrying the can" is a new one on me.
The idiom I usually hear for being saddled with the blame for someone else's mistake is "to be left holding the bag". "Carrying the can" is a new one on me.
Consensus seems to be that 'carrying the can' is a British English idiom originating from the practice that sailors had of nominating one man to go and fetch a big can (so these days we'd probably call it a drum or keg) of beer for the whole crew. You can guess what happened to the man who dropped the can.
The idiom I usually hear for being saddled with the blame for someone else's mistake is "to be left holding the bag". "Carrying the can" is a new one on me.
"Left holding the bag" generally implies that other people decided you should be the fall guy, not that you decided to be the fall guy.
"Left holding the bag" generally implies that other people decided you should be the fall guy, not that you decided to be the fall guy.
The origin of "carrying the can" seems to imply that becoming the fall guy still wasn't your decision. "Take the fall" or "fall on the grenade" are the usual idioms I hear for making the decision yourself.
I shall carry this wok.
Literal meaning. The Chinese equivalent of carrying the can, as the Chinese saying 背黑锅 (carrying the black wok) means to be the fall guy for someone else's fault.
