velvet handcuffs
English
editPronunciation
editAudio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
editvelvet handcuffs pl (plural only)
- (idiomatic) Golden handcuffs: any arrangement designed to provide favorable benefits or pay so as to discourage a participant from choosing to leave it.
- Synonym: golden handcuffs
- 2000, Jack A. Green, Contact: a Guide to Developing Effective Call Centre Skills:
- If turnover is low, is this for good reasons or because staff have no other opportunities or are trapped by "velvet handcuffs" — are dissatisfied and would like to leave, but the money is too good.
- 2004 March 13, Billboard, volume 116, number 11, page 11:
- Inevitably, it turns out, singing other people's songs or having to collaborate with one's bandmates can sometimes feel like a prison sentence, albeit one with velvet handcuffs and minimum security.
- 2011, Christopher Shulgan, The Soviet Ambassador: The Making of the Radical Behind Perestroika:
- The transfer sounded prestigious, but it was definitely a demotion. This was the style of the Brezhnev Politburo: velvet handcuffs, but handcuffs nevertheless.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see velvet, handcuffs.