17. Whipping boy

　　大家可能对 “scapegoat”的意思非常熟悉，但是对 “whipping boy ”可能并不熟悉，实际上二者的意思非常接近。

　　Whipping boy 的比喻义就是“充当替罪羊的人或物，代人受过”。这个短语在实际中用途颇多。如：“ one 'right' way to teach reading……To support phonics instruction and make the advocates of 'whole language' the whipping boy does a disservice to our schools and teachers” (摘自1997年《时代周刊》);

　　又如：“Building 31 also is not immune from the siege mentality that generally can mark Microsoft. 'We're very much a whipping boy in the academic community'”