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Rosemary Bush 

A disingenuous gesture. Usually from a manager or employer in response to a request for a raise or promotion after the employee has had excellent performance over a long period of time.

Further, it is a metaphor for when an entity in a position of power and surplus like an employer or manager that makes >2x your salary and works <1/3 the effort you do, denies you of any meaningful progression in compensation and or growth and instead makes a false - sometimes public - gesture that they are doing something for you and/or recognize you in a way that doesn’t help you at all. Most importantly, you are denied what you asked for.

The fake gesture in this case is the gift of a decorative plant that has minimal utility. When what you asked for was a promotion and a 10% raise.
My manager just gave me the Rosemary Bush. After working nights and weekends for months and being promised a promotion. They now are acting like: ‘OK all done here! now you have to reach even higher throughput, because I gave you this fake gesture’

They just gave me any amazon gift card instead of the raise I was promised.
Rosemary Bush by codeforcool April 12, 2023
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