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Reader question: Please explain “upstairs” in the expression “kicked upstairs”. My comments: First of all, “kicked upstairs” is euphemism for getting rid of someone by way of promotion instead of demotion. Or downright firing and letting go. Upstairs? Well, you know, CEOs and managers in all organizations tend to be stationed on the upper floors of a building whereas average employees occupy the ground floor. This is almost always true in factories. While workers toil in the hot workshop, managers get to stay in the top floors of an air-conditioned office building overlooking vast workshops down below. Well, this is true in at least some places. Was true in the not distant past at any rate. At any rate, to kick someone upstairs is to give them a promotion but it’s really a demotion in disguise. To the person who gets kicked (Ouch! See, it’s not a good feeling to be kicked in the normal sense), moving upstairs may be considered a step up the proverbial ladder. But very soon they’ll find themselves marooned and exiled, like, workless, friendless and suffering alone. In Japan, they call people who get promoted this way the sitting-by-the-window tribe. They are exactly the same people who are kicked upstairs in the West. You know, they’re undesirable people, incompetent or difficult in some way or just generally annoying but you cannot fire them due to one reason or another. They, for example, may have been in the place for a long time or they may be a relative of someone in the high place. So you give them a promotion so that they can comfortably sit alone in the swivel chair in a room upstairs and while away their life. That way, they will no longer cause trouble for anyone in any way. | 
