kick the can down the road: meaning & examples

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Language: English

Meanings:

  • 1.

    United StatesUnited Kingdomgeneralinformalcolloquialpolitical
    • To postpone dealing with a problem or making a decision, typically by deferring it to a later time.
    • To delay action in a way that avoids immediate consequences but often increases future difficulty.

    Examples

    Beta

    • The government decided to kick the can down the road instead of tackling the budget crisis now.

      El gobierno decidió posponer el problema en lugar de abordar la crisis presupuestaria ahora.

    • We can’t keep kicking the can down the road; eventually, we have to fix this issue.

      No podemos seguir posponiendo el problema; eventualmente, tenemos que solucionarlo.

    • They kicked the can down the road by delaying the decision until after the election.

      Pospusieron la decisión hasta después de las elecciones.

  • 2.

    United Statesgeneralinformalpejorative
    • To avoid responsibility for solving an issue by taking temporary measures or shifting the burden to others, thereby prolonging resolution.

    Examples

    Beta

    • Instead of solving the conflict, the manager kicked the can down the road and blamed others.

      En lugar de resolver el conflicto, el gerente pospuso el problema y culpó a otros.

    • By ignoring the complaints, the committee kicked the can down the road without real action.

      Al ignorar las quejas, el comité pospuso el problema sin tomar acciones reales.

    • He tends to kick the can down the road when faced with difficult responsibilities.

      Él tiende a posponer los problemas cuando enfrenta responsabilidades difíciles.

Examples:

  • EN: A mistrial's just gonna kick the can down the road till Mike gets tried again.
    ES: Con un juicio nulo estaríamos dándole largas al asunto hasta que vuelvan a enjuiciar a Mike.
  • EN: Let's just kick the can down the road.
    ES: Tiremos la toalla por la ventana.
  • EN: Actually, we had to kick the can down the road on one of you guys recently.
    ES: De hecho, tuvimos que aplazar a uno de ustedes hace poco.
  • EN: No, we agreed to kick the can down the road.
    ES: No, acordamos patear la lata en el camino.
  • EN: - You can kick the can down the road and you can put off those external costs, which is what they're called;
    ES: - Con una simple patada puedes poner fin a todos esos costes externos, como ellos los denominan.
  • EN: Let's just kick the can down the road and do it then.
    ES: Vamos a tirar la lata al suelo el camino y hazlo entonces.
  • EN: I already let Bobby kick the can down the road on the pension last time, hell if I'll let him do it again.
    ES: Ya dejé que Bobby aplazase la decisión de las pensiones la última vez, no se lo dejaré volver a hacer.
  • EN: We can't just kick the can down the road.
    ES: No podemos simplemente patear la lata por el camino.
  • EN: We just kick the can down the road.
    ES: Solo pateamos la lata por el camino.
  • EN: They don't care, they kick the can down the road.
    HI: वो नहीं करते परवाह, जमीन पर गिर जाने की।
  • EN: He lies in order to kick the can down the road.
    HI: उसने छत से गिरने का झूठा नाटक किया है.
  • EN: But in fact, it would kick the can down the road,
    HI: भले चंगे को रास्ते से भटका देता है,
  • EN: the profit to buy a new one... and kick the can down the road
    HI: एक नयी लहर बनाने को, फिर किनारे पर खो जाने को
  • EN: In democracies...the incentive is to kick the can down the road.
    HI: बधाई हो. . . . पर चेले पंथ में विकार पैदा करते है.
  • EN: During his first term, he continued to kick the can down the road.
    HI: इस दौरान बीच रास्ते में ही उसने दम तोड़ दिया।

Related Idioms

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Sourced from Wiktionary

Source: Wiktionary

kick the can down the road | Idiomator