A metaphoric phrase used to describe the act of blaming the bearer of bad news.
Until the advent of modern telecommunication, messages were usually delivered by human envoys. For example, in war, a messenger would be sent from one camp to another. If the message was unfitting, the receiver might blame the messenger for such bad news and take their anger out on them.
The treatment of the bearer of bad news as if they were to blame for it.
Shooting the messenger is a subdivision of the ad hominem logical fallacy.
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Idioms, Fallacies, and Paradoxes
RandomAll definitions are 100% written by Wikipedia, not my own words.
