Dictionary definition of “dance of the lemons”

dance of the lemons

n. the repeated reassignment of bad teachers to different classes or schools. Also turkey trot. Subjects: English, Education, Slang

Editorial Note: Lemon, meaning “a person who is disappointing, foolish, untrustworthy, inept, or the like” (1997, Historical Dictionary of American Slang, vol. 2) dates to at least as early as 1906.

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Citations: 1981 Bob Baker Los Angeles Times` (Mar. 29) “12 Run for L.A. School Board on Varied Platforms” p. WS8: We have what we call the dance of the lemons (poor teachers) and we need some help. 1985 Thomas Sowell Dallas Morning News (Texas) (Oct. 30) “Bad Teachers And Learning Dip” p. 18A: When the parents at the new school finally realize how terrible the teacher is and set up a howl, a new transfer is arranged. This musical chairs scenario is so common it has a name: “The dance of the lemons.” 1987 Katy Butler San Francisco Chronicle (May 29) “Incompetence—The Schools’ Blight” p. 1: Instead, principals engage in what Stanford’s Bridges calls “the dance of the lemons” or the “turkey trot”—they transfer their incompetents from school to school in the wake of parental complaints. 1989 Dorothy J. Maddux Ethics in Business (May) p. 26: We seldom terminate senior employees, we just move them around the organization hoping we will find a place they will fit. All of us know thse moves happen—we call it the Dance of the Lemons. 1992 Thomas Sowell Inside American Education (Nov. 1) p. 31: If and when the parents at the new school begin to complain about the same teacher, then another transfer may be arranged, and yet another. These multiple transfers are so common that they even have nicknames, such as “the turkey trot” or “the dance of the lemons.” 1999 Ken Ward Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nev.) (Dec. 23) “Rogers makes a ‘super’ pitch” p. 9B: As the school trustees resume their hunt, it’s become increasingly obvious that this exercise is flawed. Perhaps fatally. With head- hunter Bill Attea on the case, we’re just asking for another crop of dancing lemons. 2005 Frank Mickadeit Orange County Register (California) (Sept. 27) “Dancing lemons and a restless night”: The dance of the lemons. It refers to an annual ballet in which bad tenured teachers are shuffled around within school districts because they can’t be fired. 2007 Susie Gran Albuquerque Tribune (New Mexico) (June 18) “APS head blasts ‘march of the lemons’”: “We would never move bad teachers to another school,” she said. That practice is known as the “march of the lemons” and won’t be tolerated in APS, she said.

Posted 7 Oct 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

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by kath 03 Feb 08, 0747 GMT