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Hard: Move the goalposts

Hard: Move the goalposts

Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

This episode is hard so we’re looking at more difficult football phrases and idioms. These phrases can be used to talk about football but are also useful when talking about other topics.

Summary

Learn more football vocabulary with Premier Skills English. Each lesson in our Premier Vocabulary section looks at one football word or phrase. This lesson looks at the phrase to move the goalposts

You can find more lessons on the side of this page.

Transcript

Rich: Hello my name's Rich and welcome to Premier Skills English - Premier Vocabulary.

Jack: Hi there! I'm Jack. We're here to help you with your football English. Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time.

Rich: We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

Jack: This episode is hard so we're looking at more difficult football phrases and idioms. These phrases can be used to talk about football but will also be useful when talking about other topics too.


Rich: The phrase we are looking at in this episode is: to move the goalposts.

Jack: Why would you want to do that?

Rich: Do what?

Jack: Move the goalposts. Nobody would score.

Rich: Very good but no, we're not literally talking about the goalposts - the two vertical poles that create part of the goal frame.

Jack: No? I remember as kids when we used jumpers or little cones as goalposts. When I was in goal I'd always move them a little. Make the goal smaller.

Rich: That's cheating. We're talking about a phrase an idiom. To move the goalposts has a non-literal meaning, too.

Jack: Yes, it does. It means to change the rules while someone is doing something to make it harder for them to do it.

Rich: OK, so it is a bit similar to what you used to do as a kid - moving the goalposts so nobody would score but let's look at some other examples.


Jack: I really thought we were going to sign him.

Rich: What happened? Why didn't you?

Jack: I'm not sure. I think his agent moved the goalposts at the last minute. Asked for more money or something.

Rich: That's a pity. He'd have been a great signing.


Jack: I think we've done everything on our side. We've paid for the premises, we've bought all the equipment and hired some staff even though that wasn't in the original agreement.

Rich: Yes, yes that's all good but we've decided that we'd also like a percentage of any future sales …

Jack: You can't keep moving the goalposts like this. We'll give you 48 hours to agree to what is on the table now or we'll start considering alternatives.


Rich: In both of these examples we use the phrase to move the goalposts to describe someone changing something while something is happening.

Jack: In the first example a football agent tried to change his player's contract at the last minute.

Rich: In the second example one business is trying to get a better deal at the last minute by changing the terms of the business deal or contract.

Jack: We often use the phrase when we are complaining about someone - You can't keep moving the goalposts like this or I think his agent moved the goalposts at the last minute.

Rich: We can also say to shift the goalposts instead of move the goalposts to mean the same thing.


Jack: There is the final whistle!

Rich: We'll be back soon with more Premier Vocabulary from Premier Skills English.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

Discuss

  • Have you ever had a teacher or boss that always seemed to move the goalposts to stop you from succeeding?

Write your answers in the comments section below.

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Comentários

PhuCuong
12/02/2024
VN
103
points

I feel like my boss is always moving the goalposts, making it difficult to meet their expectations.


PhuCuong
12/02/2024 15:09
Vietnam
Arsenal
103

I feel like my boss is always moving the goalposts, making it difficult to meet their expectations.

Michaelsun
16/02/2022
CN
738
points

I don’t have the boss who always seems to move the goalposts to stop me from succeeding.


Michaelsun
16/02/2022 14:36
China
Manchester United
738

I don’t have the boss who always seems to move the goalposts to stop me from succeeding.

Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
27/04/2021
BR
1512
points

Once I was a teenager and practicing football at a club, I had a coach that was always moving the goalposts during our practices. But it was exciting! Actually that situation made us become more concentrated and dealing with the game problems every single minute.


Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
27/04/2021 20:08
Brazil
Arsenal
1512

Once I was a teenager and practicing football at a club, I had a coach that was always moving the goalposts during our practices. But it was exciting! Actually that situation made us become more concentrated and dealing with the game problems every single minute.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
01/12/2020
UA
6559
points

There's something strange with this VAR - football authorities must move the goalposts to prevent some supporters' and coaches' frustration.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
01/12/2020 09:05
Ukraine
Liverpool
6559

There's something strange with this VAR - football authorities must move the goalposts to prevent some supporters' and coaches' frustration.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
01/12/2020
UA
6559
points

I've never had a teacher or boss that tried to move the goalposts to stop me from succeeding, all my bosses and teachers were kind and friendly people.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
01/12/2020 09:03
Ukraine
Liverpool
6559

I've never had a teacher or boss that tried to move the goalposts to stop me from succeeding, all my bosses and teachers were kind and friendly people.

hsn's picture
hsn
06/06/2020
TR
5551
points

A car- seller moved the goalposts in order to get extra money when we agreed with price. According to written and signed agreement this approach didn't provide bonus to him.


hsn's picture
hsn
06/06/2020 17:57
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5551

A car- seller moved the goalposts in order to get extra money when we agreed with price. According to written and signed agreement this approach didn't provide bonus to him.

Gergő Nagy
27/03/2020
HU
3396
points

Yes, i have, My history teacher was jealous in my Secondary School and because of this situation i had to left the school before the School Leaving Exam. It was so comlicated but i found myself in the English language.


Gergő Nagy
27/03/2020 14:21
Hungary
Chelsea
3396

Yes, i have, My history teacher was jealous in my Secondary School and because of this situation i had to left the school before the School Leaving Exam. It was so comlicated but i found myself in the English language.

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Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6559
2mobeckham6524
3hsn5551
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
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1Colombia71666
2Ukraine33797
3Spain29271
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23321
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20405
8Turkey20001
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
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1Manchester United143452
2Liverpool111000
3Chelsea89957
4Arsenal86174
5Manchester City58584
6Tottenham Hotspur19326
7Newcastle United10545
8West Ham United7637
9AFC Bournemouth4870
10Crystal Palace4491

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Average: 5 (1 vote)

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