What a graphic saying. Didn't hear this much until I started working, something that perhaps can be credited to office politics. I read an article that referenced the phrase, the first time I saw it in print. It's interesting how certain sayings can immediately conjure connotations that become so ingrained that we slowly stop imagining what the words mean. Actually being thrown under a bus would be horrific but we stop thinking of it in those literal terms. I thought about describing the intent in plain English and struggled a bit. Another saying came to mind - being stabbed in the back.