User:Marts777/Stoolkicker

Stoolkicker

"Stoolkicker" is a slang business term sometimes used to describe undesirable effects happening within a company or group. It is more accurately used to describe incidents which have irreversible affects, resulting in the company or person(s) affected to take negative action. For instance, an important deal being lost could be referred to as a stoolkicker, particularly if it results in the company declaring bankruptcy, or cuts in employment.

The word is said to be derived from past stock market crashes, when executives and managers were said to "kick the stool" as dire consequences unfolded within companies. The term originally started with suicidal meaning, as in to prepare a noose, then to kick one's stool out from under them, thus hanging one's self. More recently, however, the term has been stretched to encompass many different situations, often with no suicidal element at all.