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From: Shirley <>
Subject: Trivia: Fall guy
Date: Thu, 03 Jun 1999 18:07:49 -0700


Q. What's a "fall guy?"

A. "Never give a sucker an even break," movie comedian W.C. Fields once said.
But there is one type of sucker, the fall guy, who is often given a break -- a
broken arm or broken leg. That's because this term comes from wrestling as it
was practiced at the beginning of the century.

If Hulk Hogan were to lecture on word origins -- picture that! -- he would tell
you that even back then, the bouts were usually fixed. The wrestlers arranged
beforehand who would win, the loser "taking a fall" knowing that the winner
wouldn't really hurt him. Surprise! Sometimes the winner, perhaps to show off,
went back on his word, using all his bone-crunching power on his victim. So
"fall guy" came to mean someone who is set up, a person tricked into doing
something with false expectations.

(Source: WHY YOU SAY IT by Webb Garrison)
http://mailbits.com/Trivia/Source/32.htm

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