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To save everyone a google, the etymology of scot free is not based in Scottish juries. The phrase in its oldest form literally refers to getting away without p

by agurk 5y ago

To save everyone a google, the etymology of scot free is not based in Scottish juries. The phrase in its oldest form literally refers to getting away without paying tax. Scot is cognate with the Danish (Scandinavian) word skat which means both tax and treasure - the latter meaning incidently being why it can be used as a term of endearment. This later was broadened to mean getting away without any punishment. I could find no reference online to its use for show trials. Sources: https://www.etymonline.com/word/scot-free https://www.etymonline.com/word/scot-free https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/scot-free.html https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/scot-free.html https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-2732,00.html https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-27... https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/phrases/scot-free/ https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/phrases/scot-free/ https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-sco1.htm https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-sco1.htm

mdiesel 5y ago
For those interested in what the gp could be referring to: There is a Wikipedia article and other sources on the "not proven" verdict of Scottish juries which was/is in practice an acquittal. It's apparently still used in roughly 1/3rd of cases. There is a list of significant cases for which the verdict was used, though none seem to be related to political protest.