Why in Spanish "cabeza de turco" means scapegoat? What is that to do with the Turks?

Question

The word 'Scapegoat' originally comes from Hebrew and to do with Yom Kippur in Judaism. But I don't understand why Spanish regard muslim Turks as scapegoats...

Answer 1

Many European languages have expressions meaning "(billy)goat of sin" as translations for Hebrew azazel:
Dutch: zondebok
French: bouc émissaire
German: Sündenbock (m)
Italian: capro espiatorio
Spanish: chivo expiatorio

The English "scapegoat" is a combination of from escape + goat, invented by William Tindale (1530), as a translation of the Hebrew azazel, incorrectly believed to mean ‘the goat that escapes'.

That Spanish has "cabeza de turco" as a synonym of "chivo expiatorio" is comparable to other such expressions, such as Catalan "cap de turc", Portuguese "cabeça de turco" or Italian "testa di turco". It is probably based on French "tête de turc" and refers to the decapitable Aunt Sally mannequins used at fairs. Johann Georg Heck’s Iconographic Encyclopaedia of Science, Literature & Art (1860 American edition) suggests this is correct:

"The [fifteenth century(?)] carrousel took the place of the public tournament, especially in France. It opened with a quadrille of horsemen, in bands of four to twelve knights, and commanded by a leader. Next followed the quintaine. The game consisted in marking a point on a tree or pillar, which must be struck with a lance at full speed. Another form of the sport was afterwards introduced. Wooden figures were placed on pegs so that they could turn round, and were to be hit in the face. Sometimes the figure to be struck was a Moor’s or Turk’s head."

The metaphor starts turning up regularly from the 1870s in Spanish and French. A comparable English expressionm would be "whipping boy", by the way, also roughly synonymous with "scapegoat"

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why in Spanish "cabeza de turco" means scapegoat? What is that to do with the Turks?
The word 'Scapegoat' originally comes from Hebrew and to do with Yom Kippur in Judaism. But I don't understand why Spanish regard muslim Turks as scapegoats...

Answer 3

TURK'S HEAD
On having divided equally the XVIIth century, and during long time. the fashion of the Turkish thing took possession of good part of Europe. The coffee to the Turk, the couches (called Ottoman in Occident), the paintings with sultans and odalisques invaded the lounges. Personages of this origin were a habitual presence in the farces, since it happens in someone of which he wrote It Will grind. Also the Viennese allowed themselves to win for this influence and created a mass which form imitates the symbol of Turkey and that up to today.

Answer 4

First, IT DOES NOT MEAN SCAPEGOAT. The term "cabeza de turco" comes, I understand, from a ridiculous and cruel idea, using in fairs a turk who showed the head through a hole and people threw objects at him. The idea was that if you hit him you won a prize. Used in some places to represent people to whom you could blame for everything and could not fight back.
Get your facts straight before talking

Answer 5

This website will tell you where that word came from. In other words its Etymology, according to wikipedia:

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scapegoat