Carrot and stick

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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 is a term (idiom) used to refer to the act of simultaneously rewarding good behaviour while punishing bad behaviour. For example, if a worker is slacking off using a company provided privilege or asset, the company may give the worker something similar (usually allowance of use or a certain discount) at home while restricting his access to the privilege at work. Effectiveness generally varies per worker. This usage of the term is sometimes attributed to Winston Churchill, although the earliest citation recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is to The Economist magazine in 1948.

On the other hand, others look for the origin of this expression in the old cartoon of a donkey running forward in pursuit of the carrot dangling off a stick held by the passengers of the cart the donkey is pulling.

[edit] Links

• (Paul Brians, Department of English, Washington State University) “Carrot on a stick” vs. “the carrot or the stick.”