Idioms, what do they mean?

[Sundae]

I did once use the phrase "going off and a tandem" as opposed to a tangent.
What? I knew what tandems were - and I knew they were unreliable unless handled properly. It made sense to me.

Is this the right place to reintroduce the carrot & stick argument?
In which I (and a handful of people worldwide) believe the carrot is ON the stick, meaning a system of dangling a reward which can never be reached.

Whereas the rest of civilisation believes is is a system combining incentive AND punishment. Somehow the dangling carrot is perceived as reward (although the donkey never reaches it) and the stick is used to hit the donkey anyway; proving that not only is the carrot unobtainable, but that it is useless as an incentive.

Very bleak view, people. At least my view only fools the donkey. The other makes a monket out of him and then beats his ass!