greasy pole

greasy pole (countable and uncountable, plural greasy poles)

1. A sporting event that involves staying on, climbing up, walking over or otherwise traversing a pole that has been made slippery.
2. The slippery pole used in the event.
   • 1886, Thomas Hardy, chapter 16, in The Mayor of Casterbridge‎:

     He advertised about the town, in long posters of a pink colour, that games of all sorts would take place here; and set to work a little battalion of men under his own eye. They erected greasy-poles for climbing, with smoked hams and local cheeses at the top.

   • 1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter VII, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:

     The mud was unspeakable. The paths through the beet-fields were simply a succession of lumps, as slippery as a greasy pole, with huge pools everywhere.

3. (figurative) The work and scheming that leads to the position of prime minister or other leadership position.
   • 1869, Benjamin Disraeli, quoted in Metaphor and Thought, Cambridge University Press →ISBN, page 238

     I have climbed to the top of the greasy pole.

   • 2009, Franz Bosbach, John R. Davis, Andreas Fahrmeir, Industrieentwicklung / Promotion of Industry: An Anglo-German Dialogue: Ein deutsch-britischer Dialog, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 97:

     Merkel sacrificed her “Thatcherite” agenda to get to the top of the greasy pole. One should be careful, however, with explanations that reduce Merkel to a mere tactician.

   • 2013, Sasha Fenton, Unexplained Zodiac: The Inside Story of Your Sign, Charlesbridge, →ISBN, page 49:

     They have strong opinions, which they moderate while climbing up the greasy pole of politics or advancement at work.

• grease pole, greased pole