Buck For Something

Meaning of Idiom ‘Buck For Something’

To buck for something means to work for it or strive for it; to work toward a certain ambition or achievement.

This idiom was first used primarily to refer to military promotions but is now used more generally.

Sentence Examples

“He’s been bucking for the chairman’s position since he came into this board.”

“What are you bucking for employee of the month? Slow down! They don’t pay you extra for doing twice the work.”

“He’s bucking for a promotion to general but the top brass never liked him.”

“I’m bucking for you to take over old John’s job when he retires. You up for it?”

“Everyone is bucking for a raise separately. Nothing is going to happen unless we unionize.”

Origin

The noun buck, since the 1300s has referred to the male of certain animals such as a deer or goat. The term is also used as a verb. Said of a horse, to buck means to violently arch the back and leap. Spirited male horses perform this maneuver to throw off or ‘buck’ their riders (later 1800s). This idiom is not associated with bucking horses, however. ¹

As a verb, to buck is used in several ways other ways. To buck something is to oppose it or resist it. In this idiom, instead of to buck against, we have buck for, meaning the opposite: to to actively work to achieve something.

The idiom ‘bucking for’ first arose as military slang and is likely associated with the term buck meaning to soak clothing in lye or to wash clothing. Early military use includes the phrase ‘bucking for orderly,’ meaning the act of cleaning one’s clothing and equipment in preparation for going on guard duty, where a soldier might be inspected and found to be clean enough to become the orderly for his commander.

From there, to buck for something came to be used in a wider sense, including generally to refer to promotions or anything someone wanted to achieve.

In the classic television show, MASH, the character Corporal Klinger is famous for continually ‘bucking for a Section 8 discharge.’ He worked diligently to prove to the army that he was crazy, and thus unfit for military service. h/t English Stack Exchange