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Difficulty: MediumIdioms and Idiomatic Expressions

During the press conference regarding the delayed transit project, the commissioner was accused of passing the buck when he attributed the operational failures entirely to his predecessor. Which of the following best expresses the meaning of the underlined idiomatic expression?

  1. Shifting responsibility or blame to another personAnswer
  2. B
    Physically handing over money or financial tokens to an official
  3. C
    Accepting full personal accountability for an operational oversight
  4. D
    Mismanaging and wasting government funds on unauthorized contracts

Answer

Shifting responsibility or blame to another person
The idiomatic expression 'pass the buck' means to transfer responsibility or blame for something to another person in order to avoid taking accountability oneself. In the context of the sentence, the commissioner avoids taking responsibility for operational delays by blaming his predecessor.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the context of the sentence
The commissioner is deflecting criticism by blaming his predecessor for project failures.
Contextual clues indicate an act of evading personal blame by attributing fault to someone else.
2
Identify the figurative meaning of the idiom 'pass the buck'
The expression figuratively means to evade responsibility by passing it on to another party.
Idioms cannot be decoded through literal word meanings; their established figurative senses must be recognized.

Key Concept

Meaning of the idiom 'pass the buck'
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Topics

Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions

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