kick in the seat of the pants

kick in the seat of the pants

1. A humiliating or frustrating disappointment or setback. Losing my job after my car broke down was a real kick in the seat of the pants.
2. A forceful rebuke or incitement intended to motivate one to act or improve. The real kick in the seat of the pants was when my mother told me she was disappointed in me—that's when I knew I needed to change. The coach gave the team a kick in the seat of the pants at half-time with a rousing speech.
See also: kick, of, pant, seat
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

kick in the (seat of the) pants

and kick in the ass and kick in the butt and kick in the teeth and kick in the rear
n. a strong message of encouragement or a demand. (Usually objectionable.) All he needs is a kick in the seat of the pants to get him going. A kick in the teeth ought to wake them up and get them moving.
See also: kick, of, pant, seat
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • kick in the rear
  • a kick in the teeth
  • kick in the breech
  • kick in the teeth
  • breech
  • kick in the behind
  • seat
  • by the seat of (one's) pants
  • by the seat of your pants
References in periodicals archive
Roger von Oech, author of A Whack on the Side of the Head and A Kick in the Seat of the Pants, clearly, thinks that in order to get out of one's mental rut something a little more, well, extreme is needed than a "Po!" He actually goes back to the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus For sayings that he explicates From the point of view of creativity circa right now in Expect the Unexpected or You Won't Find It, which is now available in paperback (Berrett-Koehler; 166 pp.; $12.95].
Receptive minds. (WIP)