
IdiomDaily Life
English
watch one's step
Meaning: To be careful how one behaves, to avoid trouble.
Example: “After one more late arrival, the manager told him he'd better watch his step.”
Origin: The literal warning to mind where you put your feet took on its figurative sense of behaving carefully in the early 20th century.
Equivalents in other languages
French: N’avoir qu’à bien se tenir Literally: To have only to hold oneself well
More English idioms
- have a lot on one's plate To have many tasks or problems to deal with.
- not believe one's ears To be so surprised by what one hears that it seems impossible.
- cross the Rubicon To take an irreversible step.
- like a bear with a sore head In a very bad, irritable mood.
- dead on one's feet To be utterly exhausted.
- fall flat on one's face To fail completely and embarrassingly.
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