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Reader question: Please explain “beat the rap” in this sentence: Here’s how Trump can beat the rap on the pandemic. My comments: In other words, here are reasons or excuses why Donald Trump can escape punishment or rather media criticism for mishandling the coronavirus pandemic. Trump’s incompetence vis-a-vis the coronavirus is well documented. So we’ll stick with the American expression “beat the rap”. It is, after all, a phrase that needs perhaps more than a little explanation. First of all, to beat the rap is to escape from punishment, for some wrongdoing one’s done. To beat is to go away or get away. Just beat it, as Michael Jackson used to sing. They’re out to get you, better leave while you can Don’t wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man You wanna stay alive, better do what you can … So beat it, beat it, just beat it. A rap on the other hand, is a sharp slap on the wrist or knuckles. It’s a sharp blow in comparison to slap or a tap on the hand. A boy, for example, reaches for food on the dinner table before everyone gets seated and his mom gently taps him on the wrist to remind him of table manners. A minute later, the boy does it again and the mother this time gives him a slap on the wrist. A third time the boy does this, the mother, now angry, gives him a rap on the knuckles. Hence, figuratively, when people say someone takes a rap on the knuckles, they mean to point out that this is a rather severe punishment in comparison to a slap on the wrist or an even gentler tap or touch. | 
