Carrot and stick

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the 1970s, the Canadian 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, which represents a completely different use of the phrase because there's no punishment involved.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Paul Brians, Department of English, Washington State University “Carrot on a stick” vs. “the carrot or the stick.”
• Rik & Drew, Carrot on Stick, Somewhere in the United Kingdom“Carrots. Game reviews. More Carrots. Comics. Carrot on Stick.”