Legal Writing

The Humble Foot

By Maeve

For obvious reasons, the word for foot is one of the oldest in the language:

O.E. fot, from P.Gmc. *fot (cf. O.N. fotr, Du. voet, Ger. Fuß, Goth. fotus “foot”), from PIE *pod-/*ped- (cf. Avestan pad-; Skt. pat, acc. padam “foot;” Gk. pos, Attic pous, gen. podos; L. pes, gen. pedis “foot;” Lith. padas “sole,” peda “footstep”).

Like other body parts, foot has found its way into numerous idiomatic expressions. Here are just a few.

foot the bill — to pay for something, usually for something one would rather not pay for oneself: I’ll go to the convention if the company will foot the bill.

put your foot in your mouth - to say something one regrets immediately (or should!): You put your foot in your mouth with that remark about her hat.

have one foot in the grave - about to die: When you had the flu, you looked as if you had one foot in the grave.

to have itchy feet- to have a frequent desire to travel: He’s not a good marriage prospect; he has itchy feet.

to get cold feet- to feel sudden misgivings about doing something one had planned to do: It’s the morning of the wedding and the bride has cold feet.

to get off on the wrong foot–to begin an enterprise by doing something inappropriate: Susie got off on the wrong foot with her old-fashioned boss when she told him she didn’t make coffee.

to get off on the right foot - to start out doing everything right: The new fireman got off on the right foot when he saved that baby.

to put one’s best foot forward - to present oneself at one’s best: She bought a new dress and had her hair done because she wanted to put her best foot forward for the job interview.

to land on your feet to come through a difficult situation without harm: Don’t worry about Jack in this storm. He always lands on his feet.

to drag your feet to be reluctant: Stop dragging your feet and mow the grass!

to have your feet on the ground - to have a practical outlook: His decision to put off the move until he’s sure he has the job shows he has his feet on the ground.

not to put a foot wrong- to do everything according to rule and expectation: Mr. Perfect there never puts a foot wrong with the boss.

to have feet that hardly touch the ground to move quickly: On the day of the church picnic, her feet hardly touched the ground.

to put one’s feet up - to relax: Now that you’ve finished the project, you can put your feet up for awhile.

to put one’s foot down - to take a firm stand: When little Jimmy kicked the dog, his father finally put his foot down.

My foot! - expression of disbelief: Abner Potts made a perfect score on the SAT? My foot!

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The Humble Foot

Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on May 28, 2009 (boomark / email).