keep the show on the road

English

Verb

keep the show on the road (third-person singular simple present keeps the show on the road, present participle keeping the show on the road, simple past and past participle kept the show on the road)

1. (idiomatic) To be able to proceed with a plan or project, often in the face of difficult circumstances.
   • 2021 January 12, Robert Kitson, “Is it morally right for rugby to host the Six Nations in a pandemic?”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     So what next? For now, at least, the prevailing wisdom in Europe is that people need something to divert them from the ongoing nightmares elsewhere. […] Best, some insist, to keep the show on the road and then duck and dive in the event of further Covid-19 issues.

   • 2021 January 22, Joe Brennan, “Has Eddie O’Connor underestimated the value of his €1bn baby?”, in The Irish Times‎^[2]:

     This forced the company to focus on developing advanced projects on its books. And fast. All too often, it ended up selling out at an early stage just to get money in to keep the show on the road.

Related terms

• get the show on the road

Further reading

• “keep the show on the road”, in Collins English Dictionary.