🗓️ Idiom: Race to the Bottom (n)
💬 Meaning
- A situation where competitors lower standards, prices, or quality to stay ahead.
- A negative cycle where companies or people try to beat each other by cutting costs too much.
🧠 Example Sentences
- If we keep cutting prices to beat our rivals, we’ll end up in a race to the bottom.
- Some companies take part in a race to the bottom by ignoring safety and labor rules.
- The team warned that lowering quality could start a race to the bottom.
🏛️ Origin
The phrase “race to the bottom” began appearing in U.S. political and economic discussions in the early 20th century. It was used to describe how states or countries might compete to lower regulations like taxes, wages, or environmental protections to attract businesses. The term gained popularity in the 1990s during debates on globalisation and deregulation.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
By lowering their wages just to compete, the company entered a __________.
Answer
race to the bottom
2. Choose the correct meaning of “race to the bottom”:
A) A positive strategy to improve teamwork
B) A fast-growing market trend
C) A harmful competition that reduces quality or standards
D) A sporting event with low attendance
Answer
C) A harmful competition that reduces quality or standards
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“By trying to cut costs too much, they caused a drop in quality across the industry.” → Change the sentence using: race to the bottom
Answer
By trying to cut costs too much, they entered a race to the bottom.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
