Can is kicked down the road

Just put it in the recycling bin, already. Who has not, as a kid, played kick-the-can, or in less organized fashion kicked a can or other nonbiodegradable container ahead? And some standard reference books came to agree: Kicking the can down the road signifies nothing but postponement. Edward Rowny, a senior U. Something was evidently gnawing at Safire as well, because fifteen years later he would return for a reconsideration.

This time he conceded that the metaphor not only has little to do with the game but may not have much to do with definite progress either.

But who ever kicked a can down the road with the intent of someone else coming along and kicking it the rest of the way? And the rest of the way to where, exactly? Lacking any definitive interpretation, the rest of us were free to come up with our own: Maybe the can is a piece of trash that you play with while intending to pick it up later thank you , or one that you toy with idly with no further intentions at all. The average American knows what's going on, I think. And I think they know that the Congress will continue to kick this can down the road and that they've got to act.

Whether a piece of trash is an apt symbol for a legislative issue is, of course, a question outside our purview as a dictionary. I am pretty sure that it will kick the can down the road improvement only. Robbie is willing to do what it takes to resolve the issue not just kick the can down the road. Origin The phrase originally refers to a game that was played during the Great Depression. The phrase has only been used since the late s and there is no definitive origin. Idiom of the Day drop like flies Meaning: many people falling ill or dying around the same time Example: It was flu season and people in our office were dropping like flies.

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