Re: To 'beat the rat'?

Frido Schefft wrote:
Am Wed, 9 Aug 2006 17:43:48 +0100 schrieb Ben Shimmin:

Frido Schefft <schefft@xxxxxx>:
Am Wed, 9 Aug 2006 17:28:37 +0100 schrieb Ben Shimmin:

Frido Schefft <schefft@xxxxxx>:
I was watching the film "About a boy" the other day and I
distinctly heard Hugh Grant say "I think we beat the rat there,
mate."

[...]

I think you'll find he says `beat the rap'.

Oops, well... But I still don't have a clue. What does that mean?

Oh, sorry, a definition would have been helpful, wouldn't it? :)

It means `avoid being punished'.

That fits the situation perfectly. Thank you.

It's mainly an Americanism though UK speakers and other English speakers
know it. A 'rap' is a charge, in a police sense, so you get other
expressions like 'a bum rap' for a trumped up charge (or at least
trumped up according to the person being charged). It probably comes
from 'a rap on the knuckles', that is, being hit by a schoolteacher,
parents etc, literally or figuratively.



.

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