the finger of responsibility

the finger of responsibility

The strongest blame of having done something wrong. Most often followed by "points at (someone or something)." According to recent polls, the finger of responsibility is pointing squarely at the president for the recent economic downturn. We must be careful not to place the finger of responsibility on anyone at this stage, as we don't have any facts or evidence yet.
See also: finger, of, responsibility
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • point at
  • give (one) the finger
  • give somebody the finger
  • give someone the finger
  • give someone/something the finger
  • give the finger
  • pull my finger
  • finger (one) as (someone)
  • finger as
  • finger someone as someone
References in periodicals archive
Mr Watson will point the finger of responsibility at food companies who put hidden sugar in their products, contributing to the obesity crisis.
Pointing the finger of responsibility for the completion of the project firmly at Theresa May's Government, she added: "We have waited long enough.
City boss Jackie McNamara pointed the finger of responsibility at his defenders.
"The difference between the two teams is now what we saw today and the finger of responsibility points directly to the person who is in charge."
Questions about the ISI's role in Pakistan have intensified in recent months, the report said, noting that the finger of responsibility in many otherwise inexplicable attacks has often pointed to a shadowy outfit of ISI, dubbed as "S-Wing", which is said to be dedicated to promoting the dubious agenda of a narrow group of nationalists who believe only they can protect Pakistan's territorial integrity.
No longer would they be able to point the finger of responsibility atWestminster, as this current system does, creating a "pass the blame" culture between our AMs and MPs.
They rightly eschew pointing the finger of responsibility at the obvious ineptness of FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency), but instead focus on the centuries-old patterns of development that weakened the Big Easy's natural defenses against storms such as Katrina.
Leaders from the Group of Eight major powers will most likely avoid clearly pointing the finger of responsibility at North Korea over the sinking of a South Korean warship when they wrap up their annual meeting on Saturday in Canada, G-8 officials said.
He added: "It is not part of my function to try to attribute blame or point the finger of responsibility at anyone."
The EU, which covers up to 10% of these costs, has recalled that it is not the principal source of finance and points the finger of responsibility at Israel, whose interruption to the transfer of VAT revenue has virtually brought the PA to bankruptcy.
While he echoes what others - such as Arendt - have referred to as De Gaulle's propensity for publicity and his attention to media spin, Pleynet points the finger of responsibility at Andre Malraux as being "le pere de la mediologie" in his role as Minister of Propaganda (1945) and then Minister of Culture (1958) for De Gaulle.
But there was a police investigation in due course and you effectively pointed the finger of responsibility for drug pedalling at two young girls.
Meanwhile, the local hospitals point the finger of responsibility at local GPs and consultants.
It would be wrong to point the finger of responsibility on a lacklustre evening simply at Arteta.