Know where the shoe pinches
Meaning: To know exactly where the real trouble lies.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The image goes back to a story told by Plutarch: a Roman asked why he had put aside a wife nobody had a bad word for held up his shoe and answered that it looked sound enough to all of them, but only he knew where it pinched. Chaucer uses the same figure in the Merchant's Tale, and English has kept it since. The point is always that the trouble is invisible from outside and obvious to the one carrying it.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Savoir où le bât blesse — literally: To know where the packsaddle chafes
More idioms — Daily Life
- C'est dans mes cordes — It is within my competence; I can handle that.
- Filer un mauvais coton — To be going downhill — in health, or in one's situation generally.
- Tirer son coup — For a man, to have an orgasm. Vulgar.
- Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere.
- Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter — To have more important things to do.
- Avoir le cul entre deux chaises — To be indecisive, caught between two options.
More English idioms
- Take the wrong sow by the ear — To go after the wrong target, or blame the wrong person.
- The last straw that broke the camel's back — The final small burden that causes a total collapse.
- To have a frog in your throat — To have difficulty speaking due to hoarseness.
- It's raining cats and dogs — It's raining extremely heavily.
- To have butterflies in your stomach — To feel nervous excitement.
- Bob's your uncle — And there you have it; simple as that.
From our tongue twisters
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