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[catapult37]

Someone just posted this in a thread about metroid 4:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228311509&postcount=2

I always took the common carrot + stick phrase to mean that you are dangling something just out of reach to motivate someone (with the implication that they may never reach the reward).

But my wife tells me that it's really carrot AND stick, with the meaning being that when motivating people, you offer both a reward and possible punishment.

She says I'm crazy to picture the above, and mostly, google has shown her to be correct. However, clearly I'm not the only one with this misconception.

What's your take?

 

[ItIsOkBro]

it's carrot on a stick

 

[Red Arremer]

English teacher here:
Both idioms exist and are correct in their own right. If I remember correctly "carrot and stick" as in motivation through offering reward and punishment originated from the "carrot on a stick" idiom, but took off as its own thing.

 

[Google]

Someone just posted this in a thread about metroid 4:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=228311509&postcount=2


I always took the common carrot + stick phrase to mean that you are dangling something just out of reach to motivate someone (with the implication that they may never reach the reward).

But my wife tells me that it's really carrot AND stick, with the meaning being that when motivating people, you offer both a reward and possible punishment.

She says I'm crazy to picture the above, and mostly, google has shown her to be correct. However, clearly I'm not the only one with this misconception.

What's your take?

You're right. She's wrong.

There is the concept of the Carrot or the Stick. It's not Carrot and the Stick.

I would get a divorce, mate. It's over.

 

[Capitan]

i'm on your wife's side here.

 

[Psychoward]

it's carrot on a stick

.

 

[inner-G]

They mean different things

 

[Haly]

Both of them are used for their respective meanings. One refers exclusively to reinforcement. The other refers to both reinforcement and punishment.

 

[jstripes]

"The carrot and a stick" does not contradict the carrot dangling from the stick.

"Carrot on a stick", which I've never heard, sounds like the carrot is impaled on the stick.

 

[itwasTuesday]

Doesn't matter. Both convey the same metal image.

 

[Switch Back 9]

They mean different things

The carrot motivates with the potential of reward, the stick motivates with the potential of punishment.

Both of them are used for their respective meanings. One refers exclusively to reinforcement. The other refers to both reinforcement and punishment.

Yeah, this.

 

[Nafai1123]

Carrot or stick.

 

[whatsinaname]

One of those phrases is a subset of the other...

 

[SocksAndShoes]

Wikipedia says they're two separate idioms.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot_and_stick

The "carrot and stick" approach (also "carrot or stick approach") is an idiom that refers to a policy of offering a combination of rewards and punishment to induce good behavior.

Carrot on a stick is a similar, but separate, idiom. It refers to a policy of offering a reward for making progress towards benchmarks or goals but not necessarily ever actually delivering.

 

[water_wendi]

Carrot and stick. You use the stick if they dont take the carrot.

edit:
Ah i see its two different idioms that are phonetically similar.

 

[DrSlek]

Carrot ON a stick makes less sense, because it's not actually on the stick. It's dangling from the stick by a piece of string.

Thus carrot AND stick is the most correct.

 

[Malvolio]

 

[jph139]

They're two separate phrases, and that image is illustrating the "carrot on a stick" conceptualization that you're imagining.

 

[Google]

"Carrot on a stick", which I've never heard, sounds like the carrot is impaled on the stick.

The idea being that you put a carrot on a stick to motivate a donkey to keep walking. The donkey thinks he's getting closer to the carrot but in reality he's just walking further.

 

[Blizzard]

They're two different phrases that convey different concepts.

 

[catapult37]

Wikipedia says they're two separate idioms.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot_and_stick

yep. I guess we're all correct. and/or/on.

 

[Gravy Boat]

Carrot ON a stick makes less sense, because it's not actually on the stick. It's dangling from the stick by a piece of string.

Thus carrot AND stick is the most correct.

You're taking the word 'on' too literally. Saying 'Jim is on the phone' doesn't mean he's impaled by the handset.

 

[Orbis Tabula]

Two separate idioms

And neither should be confused with a carrot stick, which is obviously the best of both worlds.

 

[Kas]

I'm with Count Olaf on this.

It's carrot and stick.

 

[blame space]

i think I'd rather get hit with a stick than eat a carrot

 

[jstripes]

The idea being that you put a carrot on a stick to motivate a donkey to keep walking. The donkey thinks he's getting closer to the carrot but in reality he's just walking further.

I know. But every example I've seen resembles a fishing rod: A carrot dangling from a stick, not on the stick itself.

 

[blamite]

The image in the OP is a carrot on a stick. It makes sense because they're trying to get the carrot but they never will because it's attached to a stuck held from behind them. A carrot AND a stick, which is a dumb phrase that took off because too many people got the correct version wrong and were too dumb to realize it, implies alternating between feeding someone carrots and hitting them with a stick (???????????).

 

[Phu]

In the context of the Metroid/Mother thread, carrot ON a stick is correct. Tempting someone with a reward but never actually giving it to them.

But my wife tells me that it's really carrot AND stick, with the meaning being that when motivating people, you offer both a reward and possible punishment.

Maybe for a horse, not so much for people.

 

[zeemumu]

Carrot ON a stick. The idea is that you're chasing something forever and never actually reaching it.


Carrot and a stick sounds like you're alternating between beating someone and rewarding them.

 

[FUME5]

You can get your donkey to pull your cart two ways, by offer of reward or threat of punishment, hence the carrot or the stick.

 

[Red Arremer]

implies alternating between feeding someone carrots and hitting them with a stick (???????????).

Carrot and a stick sounds like you're alternating between beating someone and rewarding them.

The phrase means that in order to get someone to do something, you offer both the potential for reward upon successfully doing the task, or the potential for punishment if the task is not performed.

For instance, you offer your kid an extra hour on the TV if they tidy up their room, but if they do not tidy it up, they aren't allowed any TV until the room is tidy.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Doesn't matter. Both convey the same metal image.

metal as fuck.

 

[Cymbal Head]

Yeah they're both in use but mean two different things.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Yeah, these are two separate idioms. Carrot on a stick is a prize that is always dangled away from you, out of reach. Carrot or the stick just means doing things the easy way or the hard way. Personally, I only really use "carrot or the stick"

 

[DOWN]

Carrot on a stick is the correct and original

Carrot and stick was those people who think "peace of mind" is the correct phrase taking their mistake and running with it

 

[NameGenerated]

 

[MsKrisp]

English teacher here:
Both idioms exist and are correct in their own right. If I remember correctly "carrot and stick" as in motivation through offering reward and punishment originated from the "carrot on a stick" idiom, but took off as its own thing.

Interesting, I've never heard "carrot and stick" used before.

 

[One Eyed Willy]

Carrot on a stick, no other answer.

 

[blame space]

when i was a kid i thought ends meat was really inexpensive meat like hotdogs that you ate when times were tough.

 

[cpp_is_king]

Now someone come up with an explanation of "have your cake and eat it too". If you don't eat it, wtf else are you going to do with it? That's literally what cakes are for

 

[Orbis Tabula]

Now someone come up with an explanation of "have your cake and eat it too". If you don't eat it, wtf else are you going to do with it? That's literally what cakes are for

If you eat it, you no longer have it.

 

[Malvolio]

Now someone come up with an explanation of "have your cake and eat it too". If you don't eat it, wtf else are you going to do with it? That's literally what cakes are for

They hide strippers too.

 

[Poppy]

it's a doggy dog world out there

 

[whatsinaname]

Now someone come up with an explanation of "have your cake and eat it too". If you don't eat it, wtf else are you going to do with it? That's literally what cakes are for

Have here means "possess" not "consume".

 

[cpp_is_king]

Have here means "possess" not "consume".

Right, so if you possess a cake, why would you NOT eat it? But the idiom implies your desires are unreasonable. Eating a cake that you possess is entirely reasonable

 

[Red Arremer]

Now someone come up with an explanation of "have your cake and eat it too". If you don't eat it, wtf else are you going to do with it? That's literally what cakes are for

If you eat it, you no longer have it.

There's a lot of debate on the phrase and what its exact meaning was originally, but that's the gist of it.
Another interpretation is that you would "have" the cake like you would "have breakfast", so if you have your cake i.e. eat it, you no longer can eat it again.

 

[blame space]

you can't continue to have your cake if you eat it

 

[blame space]

actually what if you just get two cakes and then you can have one and eat one?

or three cakes

 

[Red Arremer]

actually what if you just get two cakes and then you can have one and eat one?

or three cakes

Let them eat cake.

 

[blamite]

The phrase means that in order to get someone to do something, you offer both the potential for reward upon successfully doing the task, or the potential for punishment if the task is not performed.

For instance, you offer your kid an extra hour on the TV if they tidy up their room, but if they do not tidy it up, they aren't allowed any TV until the room is tidy.

nah man that's carrot OR stick