Polyhymnia · Daily Eloquencekick the can down the road
To postpone dealing with a problem instead of actually solving it.
The wit is in the mismatch: a serious problem shrunk down to a tin can, nudged along by someone too idle to stoop and deal with it.
The verb does the sneering — not solve, not face, just a lazy toe to the can, which is always still there a few feet ahead.
Even the sound colludes: 'kick the can' clatters and stalls, then 'down the road' trails off, exactly like the problem it describes.
“We didn't fix the budget — we just kicked the can down the road to next quarter.”
A manager owning up that the team postponed a hard financial call.
“You can keep kicking that can down the road, but the talk with your landlord isn't going anywhere.”
A friend gently pressing another to stop dodging a difficult conversation.
It's common enough now to read as a cliché in polished prose, so save it for plain, pointed criticism rather than original writing. And it implies willful avoidance — don't aim it at someone who genuinely lacked the means to act.
Kicking the can down the road: the only problem-solving method where the problem just follows you home.
▸More — where it lives, variations, references
A fixture of American political and newsroom shorthand — the line every budget-fight headline reaches for.
The contempt rides the rhythm: rush 'kick-the-can' as one clattering beat, then let 'down the road' trail off. Stress lands on CAN.
- · kick it down the road
- · kick the can
- · can-kicking