C2idiombusinessIELTS-friendly
move the goalposts
USUK
to unfairly change the rules or targets while someone is trying to meet them
Always a complaint about unfairness. Common in work, politics and negotiations.
In context
Every time we reach our sales target, management moves the goalposts.
The university keeps moving the goalposts on what counts as a full scholarship.
More idioms about business
- a win-win situationa situation in which everyone involved gets an advantage
- in the redlosing money or owing money, because you spend more than you earn
- make a killingto make a lot of money quickly and easily
- the bottom linethe most important fact or point in a situation
- the writing on the wallclear signs that something bad, such as failure or job losses, is going to happen