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Question
#38945. Hamlet.
asks:
Why is someone who escapes penalty or punishment said to have gotten off 'scot-free?'
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Linus_337
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In support of gmackematix's answer:
Scot: To go Scot free is to get away from a difficult situation without penalty or loss. Scot used to spelt Sceot and was an ancient form of tax, Sometimes poor people were excused this tax; they got away Scot free.
 http://members.madasafish.com/~jbriggs/idioms%20list.htm
Sep 20 03, 6:18 AM
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Flem-ish
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There is a link with the verb to shoot. To shoot money into a common fund was to "throw it down" and add it to the pile.
Icelandic has "skot" for a contribution.
There is also an Old-French "escot" which was the money you had to pay for your drinks in the tavern.
See American Heritage Dictionary at www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE471.html
Sep 20 03, 4:46 PM
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gmackematix
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Off the top of my head, it is to do with an old tax known as a scot. The name of this is related to scutage or shield-tax, from the Latin "scutum" for a shield. This was a tax paid in the middle ages to feudal landowners.
Sep 23 03, 8:57 PM
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