shift the goalposts
Move success criteria
To shift the goalposts is to change the criteria for success or the rules of an argument after someone has already met the original standard.
The image comes from sports—moving the goal would invalidate a legitimate score.
Every time I meet her expectations, she shifts the goalposts.
The tactic frustrates honest engagement by making agreement or achievement perpetually out of reach.
- gaslightingManipulation causing self-doubt
- bait and switchFraudulent sales tactic
- disputeVerbal clash over differences
- double standardsJudging others differently than yourself
- moving targetObject in motion pursued
frustration · deception · rules · metaphor · distrust · exploitation · misrepresentation · rationalization · bad faith · bad faith argument · colloquialism · power dynamics · unfair advantage · loaded dice · semantics · fairness · strategy · manipulation tactics
shift, shifts, shifted, shifting, shifter, shifters, shiftless, goals, goalkeeper