{"id":10977,"date":"2012-05-19T20:29:03","date_gmt":"2012-05-20T03:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=10977"},"modified":"2012-12-02T21:09:37","modified_gmt":"2012-12-03T05:09:37","slug":"its-bad-rap-not-bad-wrap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2012\/05\/its-bad-rap-not-bad-wrap\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s Bad Rap, Not Bad Wrap"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Now<\/a>You should know that the expression to describe when someone is falsely convicted of a criminal charge or is on the receiving end of unjustified criticism is “bad rap”, not “bad wrap”.<\/p>\n

Further, “rap” in this sense is not an acronym of “Record of Arrest and Prosecution”, though has since been backronymed as such.\u00a0 The reality is that the meaning of “rap” in “bad rap” evolved from the original meaning of the word “rap”, which first popped up around the 14th century meaning “strike or blow”, likely of onomatopoeic origins.<\/p>\n

By the 17th century, “rap’s” meaning had been extended from “a sharp blow” to also mean “a sharp criticism or complaint” (likely from the fact that a criticism or complaint can be a metaphorical blow). Within two centuries this latter definition of “rap” gave rise to another definition: “a criminal charge” or “punishment”.\u00a0 For instance, in a March of 1865 edition of the Atlantic Monthly, we have:<\/p>\n

He who has the bad taste to meddle with the caprices of believers…gets the rap and the orders of dismissal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This usage gave rise to the phrases like “bad rap”, “rap sheet”, “beat the rap”, etc.<\/p>\n

Bonus<\/span> Fact:<\/p>\n