Cover his ass
Posted by Steve E on May 19, 2005
In Reply to: Cover his ass posted by Smokey Stover on May 18, 2005
: : : Can someone please tell me, what does "cover his ass" mean? I found the source of "cover your ass" in this site, but still have no idea of what that means. Thanks a lot.
: : It means to protect yourself from embarassment. One typical scenario is to write a memo to file, putting in writing that it wasn't your idea to take Action A. You recommend Action B. When Action A goes down in flames, you have the memo to CYA.
: Well said, Bob, brief and to the point! Makes my previous effort seem not only wordy but lame. SS
SS: Lame? Absolutely not! Both were wonderful explanations and covered different aspects of the meaning as I understand it. Bob's covered more of the embarassment aspect with an implication of protection (sending Memo to File to CYA in the office) and SS's covered protection from prosecution, etc. potentially resulting from dastardly acts. Both explanations apply. I've sent Memos to File in my legal career may times to CYA and I suppose that if I shot someone with a gun (which I would not do) I would try to establish a false alibi with a friend as a CYA.