put one's foot in it
Meaning: To say something tactless or embarrassing.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “I really put my foot in it when I asked about her husband; they divorced last year.”
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: In print by the early 18th century: Jonathan Swift's Polite Conversation (1738) has "The bishop has put his foot in it." The image is of stepping into something one should have walked around.
Equivalents in other languages
- Spanish: Meter la pata — literally: To put the paw in
- French: Mettre les pieds dans le plat — literally: To put one's feet in the dish
- Portuguese: meter os pés pelas mãos — literally: to put the feet through the hands
- German: Ins Fettnäpfchen treten — literally: To step into the little grease pot
- Danish: At træde i spinaten — literally: To step in the spinach
More idioms — Body & Senses
- have pins and needles — To feel a prickling, tingling sensation in a limb that has gone numb.
- have a big head — To be conceited; to think too highly of oneself.
- have itchy feet — To feel a restless urge to travel or move on.
- wait on someone hand and foot — To do everything for someone, attending to their every need.
- have a sharp tongue — To speak in a harsh, cutting way.
- cut one's teeth — To gain one's first experience of something.
More English idioms
- talk behind someone's back — To say unkind things about someone when they are not present.
- add fuel to the fire — To make a bad situation worse.
- be on pins and needles — To be very anxious while waiting for something.
- make a killing — To make a lot of money quickly.
- worm something out of someone — To get information from someone gradually and persistently.
- lie low — To stay out of sight and avoid attention.
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