usual suspects
usual suspects · the usual suspects
козел відпущення, офірний цап
козёл отпущения, крайний, мальчик для битья
Sündenbock, Prügelknabe
The people, often scapegoats, routinely arrested in response to a crimeThe people, often scapegoats, routinely arrested in response to a crime.
Meaning
2 senses(ironic, often, plural, plural only)The people, often scapegoats, routinely arrested in response to a crime.
(broadly, informal, plural, plural only)The people or things that would be routinely expected to appear in a particular context.
Translations
1 languagesOrigin
The phrase was commonly used in New York in the 1930s, by both criminals and law enforcemeThe phrase was commonly used in New York in the 1930s, by both criminals and law enforcement, often with regard to baseless arrests. The phrase was popularized more broadly by its appearance in the film Casablanca (1942), especially since the 1990s.
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