Move the Goalposts
In this Business English lesson, you’re going to learn the Office Phrase ‘Move the goalposts’
Let’s say it again. ‘Move the goalposts’
ACTIVITY
Now, let’s do an activity. I want you to guess the meaning of ‘Move the goalposts’ from the sentence below…
“It’s frustrating trying to sell our product to this company. We agreed on the fee, but they decided to move the goalposts and wanted to pay less.”
WHAT IS ‘MOVE THE GOALPOSTS’ IN BUSINESS?
It means to unfairly change the conditions or rules of a procedure during its course.
EXAMPLES
And here’s another example of how to use the phrase:-
“I’m so annoyed with my boss as she keeps moving the goalposts. I completed the funding application using the criteria she’d told me to use. But, she then introduced further changes to my work. So, I will have to start again.”
And another example sentence…
“The customer and I were close to agreeing on a product logo. They said they liked my design. But, at the last minute, they moved the goalposts and asked me to draw and submit more logo designs.”
And a final example…
“We’re never going to finish this report on time if our boss keeps moving the goalposts. Every week he continues to make changes!”
ACTIVITY
Ok, now it’s your turn. Here’s an activity for you. Use the Office Phrase ‘Move the goalposts’ to make a sentence. You can answer in the comments section below the YouTube Channel video and I’ll take a look.
LESSON END.
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