To move the goalposts: to unfairly change the rules or conditions of a procedure during its course 朝令夕改,改變規則

Examples: 1) A: I can’t believe the sales target has been changed again!

B: Neither can I. It’s totally unfair! They keep moving the goalposts.

2) Many companies have, in recent years, moved the goalposts so that those who used to qualify for their jobs no long do so and have to quit.

(Reader’s Digest, 2018/6/15)

Five signs your body is telling you to address your knee pain

身體告訴你的五個症狀—該處理膝蓋痛了

People experiencing knee pain often will start making deals with themselves as they are reluctant to address their knee pain — deals like, “I will speak to a doctor once I am unable to play tennis anymore.” Unfortunately, for those experiencing knee pain, they often keep moving their personal goal posts, causing treatment to be delayed until the pain is too severe.

膝蓋痛的人經常不願意直接面對問題，於是開始跟自己妥協，告訴自己，[我等到沒辦法打網球時會去看醫生。]不幸的是，那些膝蓋痛的人常常改變自訂規則，導致延誤醫療，讓疼痛變得十分嚴重。

(BBC, 2017/9/26)

Dyson, the engineering company best known for its vacuum cleaners and fans, plans to spend £2bn developing a “radical” electric car.

The battery-powered vehicle is due to be launched in 2020. Dyson says 400 staff have been working on the secret project for the past two years at its headquarters in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.

However, the car does not yet exist, with no prototype built, and a factory site is yet to be chosen. (…) Tesla was able to build a new car brand from scratch, but only by producing a design which effectively moved the goalposts and changed people’s expectations of what an electric car could provide.

If Dyson wants to play with the big boys, it may have to pull off a similar trick.

以製造吸塵器和風扇聞名的Dyson公司，計畫投資20億英鎊(相當於800億台幣)發展[激進版電動車]。Dyson 打算在2020年推出這項產品，四百名員工過去兩年已經在英國維特郡Dyson總部致力於這項機密計畫。問題是這種車還不存在，連原型車也還沒造出來，工廠地點也未定。電動車大廠Tesla當年能夠從頭發展出新車品牌，都是因為他們的設計提高了原先的規格，改變了大家對電動車的期望。

要是Dyson 想跟那些大的電動車公司一決雌雄，也許也得採取同樣的計策。

Sound (中文解說) : ICRT podcast

Photos: orthopaedics, Dyson, autoblog