elevate vs kick upstairs

elevate

verb
  • To promote (someone) to a higher rank. 

  • To raise (something) to a higher position. 

  • To direct (the mind, thoughts, etc.) toward more worthy things. 

  • To confer honor or nobility on (someone). 

  • To make (something or someone) more worthy or of greater value. 

  • To increase the intensity or degree of (something). 

kick upstairs

verb
  • To promote (an employee considered troublesome) to a position of lesser influence, but of apparently higher status. 

How often have the words elevate and kick upstairs occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )