- To succeed, pass, or manage a situation with the minimum required effort, qualification, or attention.
- To narrowly avoid failure, trouble, or scrutiny, often implying a lack of real engagement or mastery.
Explanation
Origin
- Evokes the image of effortlessly skating (gliding smoothly on ice or wheels) over a surface, suggesting ease and perhaps superficiality.
- It can imply moving past difficulties or requirements without deep effort, sometimes like skating over thin ice (barely avoiding problems).
Synonyms & Related Expressions
Alternatives
Slang/Informal:
- Phoning it in (Performing a task with low effort or enthusiasm, as if just going through the motions)
- Half-ass it (Vulgar slang: Do something with minimal effort, carelessly or incompletely)
- Mail it in (Similar to phoning it in)
Vulgar/Emphatic (Often critical):
- Doing fuck all (Vulgar: Doing nothing or almost nothing productive)
Milder:
- Doing just enough to get by
- Meeting the minimum requirements
- Coasting along
Situational Appropriateness
- Informal.
- Usually carries a slightly negative connotation, implying laziness, lack of thoroughness, or undeserved success.
Misunderstanding Warnings
- The connection to literal skating might be unclear. Emphasize the meaning of minimal effort and just barely succeeding.
Examples
- He never really studied but somehow managed to skate by in all his classes.
- You can't just skate by in this job; you need to be proactive.
- She skated by the deadline, submitting the report just minutes before it was due.
Dialogue
Teacher 1: How's Jamie doing in your class this semester?
Teacher 2: Same old story. He does just enough to pass. He really just skates by.
Teacher 1: It's a shame. He's bright, but he doesn't apply himself. He needs to realize skating by won't prepare him for college.
Social Media Examples
- Forum Post: Anyone else feel like they just skated by their first year of uni? Need to step it up now. #studentlife #procrastination
- Tweet: You can skate by for a while, but eventually, lack of real effort catches up to you. #workethic #truth
Response Patterns
- Agreement/Observation: Yeah, she really just skates by.
- Criticism: It's not fair that he gets to skate by while we work hard.
- Concern: Skating by might work now, but it won't in the long run.
Common Follow-up Questions/Actions
- Discussing the person's work ethic or attitude.
- Expressing concern about future consequences for the person.
- Comparing their minimal effort to others' greater efforts.
Conversation Starter
- No.
- Used to describe or evaluate someone's level of effort or performance.
Intonation
- Often spoken with a tone of mild disapproval, observation, or sometimes grudging admiration.
- Stress often on SKATE or SKATES. He always just SKATES by.
Generation Differences
- Widely understood across generations.
Regional Variations
- Common in North American English, less frequent but generally understood elsewhere.