What does the term mean"They got off Scott free"?

Question

I hear that term being used all the time and I wanted to see if anybody has any ideal what it means.

Answer 1

Meaning

To escape pursuers or avoid payment.

Origin

Dred Scott was a black slave born in Virginia, USA in 1799. In several celebrated court cases, right up to the USA Supreme Court in 1857, he attempted to gain his freedom. These cases all failed but Scott was later made a free man by his 'owners', the Blow family.

So, we don't need to look very far for the origin of scott free. Many people, especially in the USA, are convinced that the phrase originated with the story of Dred Scott.

The etymology of this phrase shows danger of trying to prove a case on circumstantial evidence alone. In fact the phrase scot free has nothing to do with Dred Scott.

Given the reputation of Scotsmen to be careful with their money we might look to Scotland for the origin of scot free. Wrong again, but at least we are in the right part of the world now. A scot is a Scandinavian word for tax or payment. It came to the UK as a form of redistributive taxation which was levied as early the 13th century as a form of municipal poor relief. The term is a contraction of 'scot and lot'. Scot was the tax and lot, or allotment, was the share given to the poor.

Scot as a term for tax has been used since then to mean many different types of tax. Whatever the tax, the phrase 'scot free' just refers to not paying one's taxes.

No one likes paying tax and people have been getting off scot free since at least 1568, from when this reference comes - V. Skinner, in a translation of Montanus' Inquisition:

"... Escape scotte free."

Answer 2

Scott Free Meaning

Answer 3

Actually this term is a perversion of the real term "Scott inexpensive" which was coined by the English to describe the frugality of the Scottish. The English knew full well that the Scottish were not free because the English had occupied the country and taxed the Scotch just like they had taxed the Bourbon in the United States. And like the term Scott Free the British coined the term Yankee when they were yanking people's legs.

Answer 4

It means you did something the merits a punishment of any kind, but you were not punished at all. Like when you have a kid brother and both of you are playing with matches, and you accidentally set fire to the living room curtains. After the emergency and the fuss is over, the firemen and the police have gone home, your parents get both of you together and try to sort out who did it. If your brother is a lot younger than you he might get off Scott free (meaning they will not scold or punish him) but as to you, you'll probably get scolded and punished because being older you knew playing with matches was not right in the first place.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What does the term mean"They got off Scott free"?
I hear that term being used all the time and I wanted to see if anybody has any ideal what it means.

Answer 6

"getting off scot free" means "getting away with it".

As with the word hopscotch, scot free has no connection with Scotsmen, frugal or otherwise. It’s a Scandinavian word meaning “payment”. The expression derives from a medieval municipal tax levied in proportional shares on inhabitants, often for poor relief. This was called a scot, as an abbreviation of the full term scot and lot, where scot was the sum to be paid and lot was one’s allotted share. (This tax lasted a long time, in some places such as Westminster down to the electoral reforms of 1832, with only those paying scot and lot being allowed to vote.)

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So somebody who avoided paying his share of the town’s expenses for some reason got off scot free.
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It was also used for a payment or reckoning, especially one’s share of the cost of an entertainment; when one settled up, one “paid for one’s scot”. Again, someone who evaded paying their share of the tab got off scot free. It’s been suggested that this usage may have come from the old habit of noting purchases of drinks and the like by making marks on a slate, or scotching it, but the evidence suggests this is just a popular etymology, and that the usage comes from the same idea of a sum due to be paid.

Answer 7

Get Off Scot Free

Answer 8

Scott Free is the name of a dc superhero who escaped Granny Goodness' prison

Answer 9

good question. I was going to say that there was no paper in the room as that makes sense... But, I think it was around before that. Like the expression "Great Scott!" Good Luck.

Answer 10

It means they got away with it. For example if you stole something and never get caught someone could say you got away scott free.