One of the most popular sports in the United States is American football. In the U.S., “football” is a sport that involves a lot of contact. What people around the world call “football,” Americans call soccer.

For today’s show, we talk about some idioms and expressions that come from American football.

The American sport mainly involves carrying or throwing the ball. But there are times when a player must use their feet to kick the ball. The kicker can kick field goals to get points. In addition to that, the game starts with a kickoff and, after scoring points, a team will kick off to the other side, beginning their turn on offense.

The term kickoff is commonly used to describe the start of an event or project. For example, we could say experts from all over the world attended the kickoff of the new language museum.

You can use it as a phrasal verb, as well. For example, people often like to “kick off” the new year with a resolution, or promise to yourself, to reach a goal or to do something.

Football also has the term “punt.” Punting is another sort of kick a team uses when they cannot score. The punter kicks a ball with the top of his foot. “Punt,” like “kick,” can be both a noun and a verb.

When you punt the ball, you put it in play for the other team. The same can be said for punting in life. When we punt something, we give our task, job, or responsibility to someone else. For example, if I’m not good at a certain task or I just don’t want to do it, I can punt it to someone else.

It can also mean to delay a decision. If I’m not sure about taking a trip, for example, I can punt the decision until later. Another way to say this in American English is to table it. If you are not ready to think about something, it can or must wait until later.

In football, the kicker not only starts the game with a kickoff but also kicks field goals. To do this, the kicker must kick the football between the goalposts at either end of the football field. If he succeeds, his team gets three points.

Kicking a field goal can be difficult if the kicker is far from the goalposts or if the weather in an outdoor stadium is windy, rainy or snowy.

But imagine if the goalposts were moving? That would make kicking the ball between them much more difficult.

We can face this problem in everyday life. Imagine if you are given a task at work with specific goals to reach. For example, if you are a social media manager you could be asked to increase followers by 10,000 by the end of the month. But when the end of the month comes, your boss tells you that now you need to add 20,000 followers, not 10,000.

In this case, your boss has moved the goalpost.

Sometime a person moves the goalposts on purpose. They have a reason for doing so. If the goalposts keep moving, it is difficult or even impossible to reach the goal. So, if you say that someone has “moved the goalposts,” you are accusing them of changing the rules or end goals to make it difficult for you to succeed.

We can also say to move the target to mean the same thing. A moving target is a changing goal or result. A desired goal, end, or objective that changes all the time is difficult or perhaps even impossible to reach.

Both expressions – to move the goalposts and to move the target – can be used in the same way and in similar situations. However, moving the goalposts is a classic football expression. While moving the target can refer to several sports.

And that’s Words and Their Stories. Until next time, I’m Anna Matteo.

idiom –n. a word or expression that does not mean what the dictionary definition of the word or words would suggest

field goal –n. a three-point score in American football that is made by kicking the ball through goalposts

kickoff –n. the start of something; the beginning kick of an American football game

goalpost –n. one of two upright poles that exist in a goal which is used in several field sports including American football and soccer

stadium –n. a very large structure that surrounds a playing field or court where people can sit and watch a sports competition or a performance

classic –adj. one of the best examples of something

refer –v. to have a connection to or be related to something

We want to hear from you. Do you have similar expressions in your language? In the Comments section, you can also practice using any of the expressions from the story. Our comment policy is here. Or send us an email at LearningEnglish@voanews.com.

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