# Throwing under a bus **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 16, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-under-a-bus/641255 "2012-11-16T23:54:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-under-a-bus/641255/21 "2012-11-19T19:06:12Z")
That’s how Cain killed Abel, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-under-a-bus/641255/22 "2012-11-20T03:22:52Z")
What brother? ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-under-a-bus/641255/23 "2012-11-20T03:38:09Z")
It’s cold. It’s the opposite of I got your back. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-under-a-bus/641255/24 "2012-11-20T15:01:13Z")
It appears to have replaced “throwing to the wolves” in most people’s minds. It’s the better metaphor, to my mind, because wolves are coming after somebody, whereas buses (well, the people who drive them) don’t really want anybody under them. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-under-a-bus/641255/25 "2012-11-20T15:17:34Z")
I often hear this in a sports context. I always assumed it was the team bus they were throwing the scapegoat under. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-under-a-bus/641255/26 "2012-11-20T19:30:53Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > As in “could be run over by a bus tomorrow.” Pedestrian vs bus RTAs are actually pretty rare but also generic, it could happen to anyone. The phrase gets used in cases where one wants to reference the possibility of sudden death without mentioning something that is more likely to happen. \*You should make a will because you might have a heart attack/crash your stupid car/get cancer/overdose from all those drugs you take \* is something I’m not even comfortable typing _without_ a specific person in mind. Yeah, it works that way; although the morph I recall was “what if you get hit by a beer truck? There’s so many of them driving around this town!” ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-under-a-bus/641255/27 "2012-11-21T18:10:10Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > As in “could be run over by a bus tomorrow.” Pedestrian vs bus RTAs are actually pretty rare but also generic, it could happen to anyone. The phrase gets used in cases where one wants to reference the possibility of sudden death without mentioning something that is more likely to happen. \*You should make a will because you might have a heart attack/crash your stupid car/get cancer/overdose from all those drugs you take \* is something I’m not even comfortable typing _without_ a specific person in mind. I make a point of not employing this usage when dealing with clients. Instead I always use something like, “if Jim wins the lottery tomorrow, who will take over his responsibilities?” I used the “If Jim gets hit by a bus” meme once and, as it turned out, someone in the room had a relative killed by getting hit by a bus. No offense was taken (or at least exhibited), but I’m not in the business of dredging up bad memories for my clients. It’s not the greatest way to win repeat business. ---
**Author:** ![AnkhAscendant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AnkhAscendant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnkhAscendant)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-under-a-bus/641255/28 "2012-11-22T14:56:12Z")
I had ever heard this before he last several seasons of reality cooking shows. It really is that specific for me, as I don’t think I’ve ever heard it outside of Hell’s Kitchen, Next Iron Chef, Master Chef, Restaurant: Impossible, those sorts of shows. It seemed to me like suddenly sometime in the mid-to-late 00’s suddenly everyone in televised kitchens started throwing each other under busses. It always is in the sense of “throwing to the wolves”… sacrificing another contestant or coworker to divert blame from themselves to get ahead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-under-a-bus/641255.md?page=1)