an own goal
1. In sports, a goal that a player accidentally scores for the opposing team. I can't believe we lost the championship because of an own goal. I was trying to get the puck out of our zone, but I scored an own goal—how mortifying! I'm so glad he scored the winning goal and totally redeemed himself. You know, it was his own goal last year that led to them being eliminated from the tournament
2. An action pursued because it seems beneficial but that ultimately has a detrimental effect. Sheila's speech was supposed to win her more supporters, but it became an own goal once she started ranting off-topic. The law seemed promising, but it has generated such strong opposition that it's become an own goal for the president. I know he's thrilled to have more allies on the board, but I worry that aligning himself with such polarizing people will prove to be an own goal.
fall short of (one's) goal
To fail to meet or reach a goal, especially by a narrow margin or degree. Ugh, I fell just short of my goal of getting straight A's this semester. Our team has fallen short of our quarterly sales goal for the third time in a row. It's good to have goals, but you also can't be devastated when you fall short of your goal. Failure is just part of life.
fall short of the goal
To fail to meet or reach a goal, especially by a narrow margin or degree. The team was hoping to make it to the playoffs, but they fell just short of the goal. Every other salesperson has been exceeding their sales targets, but I keep falling short of the goal. It's good to have goals, but you also can't be devastated when you fall short of the goal. Failure is just part of life.
go-ahead goal
sports A goal that puts the scoring team in the lead. And Jones scores the go-ahead goal with less than a minute left! If not for that outstanding save, the Panthers would have scored the go-ahead goal. After being down 0–3, the Red Wings have clawed all the way back and scored the go-ahead goal with less than two minutes left!
goal-line stand
American football An instance in which a team's defensive unit manages to stop the opposing offensive unit within 10 yards of reaching the endzone and scoring a touchdown. Michigan manages to maintain a 17–13 lead with a dramatic goal-line stand against Nebraska. A: "There's no way we pull off a goal-line stand here—their offense is just too good." B: "Geez, Joe, you're such a negative fan!" With that impressive goal-line stand, the Owls keep their deficit at just seven.
goals
slang Something that one aspires to be or have. Despite "goals" being plural, it is often used with singular subjects. Her sleek, shiny hair is just goals. My mom and her college friends are seriously goals—they've been friends for 25 years! When am I ever going to find a love like theirs? They're so cute together, and, honestly, just goals.
move the goal
To alter the rules or parameters of a situation in such a way as to suit one's needs or objectives, making it more difficult for someone else to succeed, keep pace, or achieve an opposing objective. (A US variant of the more common British phrase "move the goalposts.") Primarily heard in US. I hate arguing with that type of person. As soon as you start wearing down their logic, they just move the goal on the whole thing! We're never going to get the book design finished in time if the publisher keeps moving the goal every couple of months like this!
move the goal line
To alter the rules or parameters of a situation in such a way as to suit one's needs or objectives, making it more difficult for someone else to succeed, keep pace, or achieve an opposing objective. (A variant of the more common "move the goalposts.") Primarily heard in UK. I hate arguing with that type of person. As soon as you start wearing down their logic, they just move the goal line on the whole thing! We're never going to get the book design finished in time if the publisher keeps moving the goal line every couple of months like this!
move the goalposts
To alter the rules or parameters of a situation in such a way as to suit one's needs or objectives, making it more difficult for someone else to succeed, keep pace, or achieve an opposing objective. I hate arguing with that type of person. As soon as you start wearing down their logic, they just move the goalposts on the whole thing! We're never going to get the book design finished in time if the publisher keeps moving the goalposts every couple of months like this! Claiming victory after cutting the tax by a small fraction when in fact you had said you'd abolish it altogether is really moving the goalposts, isn't it?
push (something) over the goal line
To bring something to completion. With our department head leaving all of a sudden, we're going to have a much harder time pushing our budget requests over the goal line. Our deadline is in less than a week, we we've all got to work quickly if we're going to push this project over the goal line.
score an own goal
To earn a point for the opposing team by scoring a goal on one's own net. (Used especially in reference to soccer.) We were never able to regain our lead after Thomas scored an own goal late in the second half.
squad goals
The aspirations, desires, or values of one's group of close friends, often illustrated in an image posted on social media that is captioned with the phrase as a hashtag. Check out this selfie of Jenny and her friends at the library. She hashtagged it with "squad goals." See you all bright and early tomorrow at the protest! #squadgoals
three-point field goal
In basketball, a basket made from beyond the three-point line. His three-point field goal in the waning seconds of the game earned us a big victory.
up to (one's) neck in alligators
business adage So overcome or preoccupied by various tangential worries, problems, or tasks that one loses sight of the ultimate goal or objective. The full expression is some variation of "When you are up to your neck in alligators, it's easy to forget that the goal was to drain the swamp." I've spent so much time dealing with various infrastructure problems for my new business that I've had no time to actually develop our product properly. I guess it's easy to forget that when up to your neck in alligators, the mission was to drain the swamp.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.