Talk Like a Native

Episode 4: Throw under the bus

Kevin: Hey Christine! How was your week?

Christine: It’s been a rough week. My colleague threw me under the bus.

Kevin: What?! Threw you under the bus? You don’t look hurt. Did you break anything? Are you ok?

Christine: Oh, I’m sorry I did not mean that literally. Throwing someone under the bus means that they put the blame on you so that they don’t get themselves in trouble.

Kevin: Ohhh I see. That really surprised me. I thought you meant that you were actually thrown in front of a moving bus.

Christine: I don’t think I would be standing here if that actually happened.

Kevin: That’s true. So what did this person do to throw you under the bus?

Christine: So we were all working on a side project* together and when my boss found out, my colleague freaked out*. She did not want to get fired so she told him that it was all my idea and I ended up taking the brunt of it*.

Kevin: I’m sorry to hear that. It really does sound like it would have been better if you were actually thrown under a bus.

Christine: Yeah that’s true. Anyways, let’s give our listeners some other examples:

His best friend threw him under the bus when the police questioned him about the murder.

My sister threw me under the bus when my mom asked who broke the vase.

I threw my brother under the bus when my mom was going to ground the both of us for something I didn’t even do.Christine: Now I may have to look for another job.

Kevin: Isn’t this your other job?

Christine: You’re right. Maybe I’ll do this full-time.

Kevin: Speaking of time, we’re done for today! Hope you guys will join us again next week for more English idioms and expressions on Talk Like a Native.

*side project - something that is not work related and can be considered against company policy

* taking the brunt of it - to get a larger amount of something bad, such as blame or physical attack

* to freak out - to panic