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Zack Phuc
2021-07-05 10:07
Kick (one) upstairs British idiom
If you kick one upstairs, you give them a higher a position or give them a promotion, but that position is not very well liked or offers limited power or onuses.
The singer was kicked upstairs to become an honorary Professor of Musicology at Harvard, which gives her no real benefits whatsoever.
He always complained about his low salary so the boss kicked him upstairs to the assistant marketing manager position.
I wouldn't want to be kicked upstairs to be a management board member who has barely anything to do with sales and marketing. I prefer being a marketing manager at the moment.
This idiom dated back to at least 1800s. Although one may tend to associate this expression with modern business practices, it was already being used in the early nineteenth century. J. W. Croker recorded it in an 1821 diary entry: “Lord Melville informs me that he is about to be kicked upstairs (his expression) to be Secretary of State.”
Do you see anything wrong?
Go to bed
I feel so sleepy, so I want to hit the hay.
