IdiomBody & Senses
English
Englishcold feet
Meaning: Too scared to do something.
Example: “The groom got cold feet the night before the wedding.”
Equivalents in other languages
Estonian: Jänes püksis Literally: A hare in the trousers
Origin: The sense of losing one's nerve is recorded in American English from the 1890s; Stephen Crane used it in his novel Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893/1896). Earlier the phrase could mean having no money, and several theories exist, from soldiers with frozen feet unable to advance to a translation from German, but none is confirmed.
More English idioms
- fine-tooth comb An imaginary device one uses to look for something very carefully.
- get a leg up To make a good start on some activity or project.
- get it in the neck To receive something unpleasant, such as criticism or punishment.
- get something off one's chest To disclose or talk about something that is bothering or worrying one.
- get something on the nose To do or understand something perfectly.
- get something through one's head To understand something that is difficult, especially because it is a shock, unwanted, or…
Explore another collection: False Friends
Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.
Keep exploring