move the goalposts meaning?

Question

What is the meaning of "to move the goalposts" idiom?

Answer 1

 

Idiom Conjugations:

 

Answer 2

Gerund Form of the Idiom:

Moving the goalposts can be frustrating for the person who gets the short end of the stick.
 

Answer 3

Idiom Usage:

To move the goalposts can be used formally or informally.
 
Goalposts can be modified with an adjective.
For example:

Move the target's goalposts
Move the diagnostic goalposts
Move the political goalposts

 
 

Answer 4

Idiom Scenario 2:

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A couple that has been seeing each other for ten years are talking ...

Susan: No! I won't marry you.
Stewart: Why? First you said that if I got a good career, you would marry me. Then you said that if I got a good job, you would marry me. After that you said if I got a nice car, you would marry me. What do you want now?
Susan: Well, we're going to need a place to live. I'll marry you when you get a house.
Stewart: How will I ever be able to marry you? You keep moving the goalposts.

 

Answer 5

Idiom Scenario 1:

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Two colleagues are talking at their offices ...

Ted: Did you finish that proposal for the boss?
Dan: I did. I gave it to the boss and he told me that he had changed the criteria. Now I have to go back and start all over again.
Ted: Wow! It sure makes it difficult to get the job done when someone keeps moving the goalposts.
Dan: Almost impossible and very frustrating.

 

Answer 6

Idiom Definition:

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"to move the goalposts"

to unfairly change the goal or target of a plan or process such that the process becomes unfair or much more difficult for the participants to achieve the goal or target

Synonyms: arbitrary, bad, bias, biased, bigot, bigoted, cheat, cheating, crooked, discriminate, discriminatory, dishonest, dishonorable, illegal, immoral, improper, inequitable, one-sided, partial, partisan, unfair, unethical, unjust, unprincipled, unsporting, wrong