Middle English wippen "flap violently", from Proto-Germanic wipp-, from Proto-Indo-European wib- "move quickly". Whipping boy first recorded 1647.
whipping boy (plural whipping boys)
- Someone punished for the errors of others, historically a boy that was whipped in the stead of a misbehaving prince.
- "As the whipping boy, he must take the whippings for the royal heir, Prince Brat."
someone punished for the errors of others