to take the blame, to be the scapegoat
Meu irmão quebrou o vaso e minha mãe pensou que foi eu, tive que pagar o pato!
My brother broke the vase and my mother thought it was me, I had to take the blame!
Pagar o pato means bearing the blame or consequences of something someone else caused. Its origin is disputed: the most cited explanation goes back to a bawdy tale by the Italian Poggio Bracciolini (15th century), in which a duck seller and a woman argue about payment and the husband ends up paying for the duck.
Source: Ciberdúvidas da Língua Portuguesa.
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