kick into the long grass
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To delay or avoid making a decision or taking action
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
trì hoãn hoặc tránh ra quyết định hoặc hành động
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: kick a ball into a distant area of tall grass
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The committee kicked the proposal into the long grass to avoid controversy
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “kick into the long grass” mean?
To delay or avoid making a decision or taking action Literally: kick a ball into a distant area of tall grass
Is “kick into the long grass” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.