deliver the goods

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Verb

deliver the goods (third-person singular simple present delivers the goods, present participle delivering the goods, simple past and past participle delivered the goods)

1. (idiomatic, informal) To do what was promised or expected.

   The government promised a lot, but failed to deliver the goods.

   • 1959 February, A. G. Dunbar, “The "Dunalastair I" 4-4-0s of the Caledonian”, in Trains Illustrated, page 85:

     […] many drivers who fired those engines in their hey-day have all confirmed to me that they were free-steaming machines, which when pressed could "deliver the goods".

   • 2023 December 1, Emma Sanders, “England 3-2 Netherlands”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     Euro 2022 stars Beth Mead, Alessia Russo and Toone all came off the bench to help inspire a comeback and it was the Manchester United midfielder, who scored the opening goal in that European success at Wembley, who delivered the goods again.

   • 2024 January 10, Chris Green, “Empowered...energised... and managing for success”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 22:

     Empowered staff deliver the goods and exceed your expectations. Disempowered staff develop a 'sullen obedience' where they stop driving new initiatives and just await orders.

Translations

(informal) to keep one's promises

• Finnish: täyttää lupauksensa, toimittaa (fi)
• French: livrer la marchandise (fr)

See also

• make good on

References

• “deliver the goods”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.