caught red handed
caught in the act of doing something illegal
TRANSLATION
he was caught red handed = er wurde auf frischer Tat ertappt --- GOOGLE INDEX caught red handed: approximately 500,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Bank robber was CAUGHT RED HANDED
(BBC News)
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Several weeks ago, after being CAUGHT RED HANDED, councillor Tony Cuneo admitted he had not paid $9000 in overdue city property taxes on his home.
(Duluth News Tribune)
(BBC News)
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Several weeks ago, after being CAUGHT RED HANDED, councillor Tony Cuneo admitted he had not paid $9000 in overdue city property taxes on his home.
(Duluth News Tribune)
Did you
know?
caught red handed
idiomatic phrase
- to catch someone in the act of doing something wrong or illegal
(Collins Essential English Dictionary)
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WORD ORIGIN
Although Shakespeare did not invent the expression "caught red handed," he understood the concept. In Macbeth, perhaps his most famous play, Lady Macbeth cries "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!" as she walks in her sleep with a candle. She believes the spots of blood on her hands from killing Duncan will never wash off.
According to several sources, the phrase "caught red handed" was first used by Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott in his 1819 novel Ivanhoe. He used it in the same sense as it is used now, meaning to get caught committing a crime or to be surrounded with clear evidence of it. The original meaning referred literally to having blood on one's hand from a murder. It has since broadened to include other crimes or wrongdoings.
Criminals get caught red handed because of bad luck, good police work and quite often due to plain ignorance. In Gardenstown, Banffshire, the police attended a jeweller's to enquire if anyone had entered the store with two rings that had been reported stolen. While they were in the store, the thief entered the shop and produced the rings. He asked the proprietor if he wanted to purchase them. Without much effort, the police had their man.
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"They were caught red handed trying to import illegal copies of our products."
idiomatic phrase
- to catch someone in the act of doing something wrong or illegal
(Collins Essential English Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Although Shakespeare did not invent the expression "caught red handed," he understood the concept. In Macbeth, perhaps his most famous play, Lady Macbeth cries "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!" as she walks in her sleep with a candle. She believes the spots of blood on her hands from killing Duncan will never wash off.
According to several sources, the phrase "caught red handed" was first used by Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott in his 1819 novel Ivanhoe. He used it in the same sense as it is used now, meaning to get caught committing a crime or to be surrounded with clear evidence of it. The original meaning referred literally to having blood on one's hand from a murder. It has since broadened to include other crimes or wrongdoings.
Criminals get caught red handed because of bad luck, good police work and quite often due to plain ignorance. In Gardenstown, Banffshire, the police attended a jeweller's to enquire if anyone had entered the store with two rings that had been reported stolen. While they were in the store, the thief entered the shop and produced the rings. He asked the proprietor if he wanted to purchase them. Without much effort, the police had their man.
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"They were caught red handed trying to import illegal copies of our products."
