To throw someone under the bus means to cause someone else to suffer in order to save oneself or gain personal advantage. It implies a sudden and harsh disloyalty or rejection of a friend or ally. The phrase is often used to describe a situation where someone shifts the responsibility or blame for a mistake or wrongdoing to another person.
The origin of this expression is not very clear, but it may have come from Britain in the late 1970s or early 1980s, where the phrase “under a bus” was already used as a metaphor for misfortune or a conveniently-timed accident. The earliest written record of under the bus being used in this way is from 1980, in reference to a British politician.
The phrase became very popular in the US media during the 2008 presidential election, when many candidates and their supporters used it to distance themselves from controversial or unpopular figures or issues.
Here are some examples of how to use the phrase “throw under the bus” in a sentence:
- He threw his partner under the bus when he blamed him for the failed project.
- She felt like her friends had thrown her under the bus when they spread rumors about her.
- They decided to throw him under the bus and leak his scandalous emails to the press.
