Carrot and stick
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Image:Port Hardy Carrot Campaign monument.jpg
In the 1970s, the government's long-outstanding promise of bringing a paved road to the northern Vancouver Island had been compared by the north islanders to a dangling carrot
Carrot and stick (also spelled "carrot-and-stick")[1] is an idiom used to refer to the act of rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior. The carrot represents the edible reward, while the stick refers to a punishing switch. The earliest citation of this expression recorded by the Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary is to The Economist magazine in the December 11, 1948, issue. The Supplement also depicts a person trying to entice a donkey to move by dangling a carrot in front of it.
[edit] References
- ^ American Heritage Dictionary, Entry for "carrot-and-stick"
[edit] External links
- Paul Brians, Department of English, Washington State University “Carrot on a stick” vs. “the carrot or the stick.”de:Zuckerbrot und Peitsche
eo:Flato kaj bato ja:飴と鞭 vi:Cây gậy và củ cà rốt zh:胡蘿蔔加大棒
