Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

I was disappointed with the touring bus explanation of the phrase 'to throw someone under the bus'. As used whenever I have heard (or used!) it, the connotation is one of betrayal and scapegoating. Someone throws you under the bus by letting you take the blame for something for which they are at least partially at fault. Or you throw someone under the bus when you need a sacrificial lamb to appease the gods (or the boss who is hunting for bear). Certainly in my mind it has always derived from the many spy thrillers in which the double agent is standing on the street corner and feels a sudden shove between the shoulder blades that lands him under the wheels of the bus. One less double agent. Having the bus leave without because you were late just doesn't carry the same connotation - nor does it strike me as a very viral concept. "With the bus or under it" does however sound a bit like "Come back with your shield or on it" as the Spartan mothers were said to urge their sons into battle... It seems to me that some wag on the bus might have combined the spy-under-the-bus and the Spartan 'victory or death' cry into a message to their bus mates that they have battles to fight and gigs to play, so get your butt on the bus on time or it might not just leave without you, but might run over you in the process. A different notion from 'throw someone under the bus'...