{
  "id": "kicking-the-can-down-the-road.upkeep",
  "term": "kicking the can down the road",
  "sense": "upkeep",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 15,
  "domain": "everyday",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "Maintenance that pushes a parameter further along without changing the rate of drift, making the window narrower ahead.",
  "folk_gloss": "Postponing a problem to deal with it later.",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "maintenance.upkeep",
      "window.range",
      "drift.aimless",
      "parameter.condition"
    ],
    "interaction": "none",
    "novel_properties": [
      "parameter pushed further"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "kick the can down the road",
    "kicking the can down the road"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — invisible maintenance"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-kicking-the-can-down-the-road.upkeep"
}