Meaning:
Changing the target of a process or competition to by one side in order to
gain advantage.
Background:
This phrase is a straightforward derivation from sports that use goalposts,
that is, Football, Rugby Football, American Football etc. The figurative use
alludes to the perceived unfairness in changing the goal one is trying to
achieve after the process one is engaged in has already started.
The phrase came into wide use in the UK during the 1980s. The first citation
I can find of it, although I'm sure there must be earlier ones, is a report
of a meeting of finance ministers, in the Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner,
September 1987:
"I see no reason to move the goalposts at all." said British Chancellor of
the Exchequer (finance minister) Nigel Lawson.
- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]
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[I recently learned the phrase "problem creep" of a similar meaning.]
A cliché like "money cannot buy happiness" wouldn't grab anyone as it's likely
the least of their problems, until Elon Musk said it. As far as moolah goes, he
certainly has got as close to the ever-moving goalpost as anyone so far and I'd
be cautiously optimistic that drowning in wealth at last, he's telling the truth.
Still, he might not have enough.
