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Idiom: Put your foot in it
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
One of the first posts I ever wrote on my blog was we are all English students.
Today’s phrase is an excellent example of the truth of that.
For me, growing up as a white Canadian of Irish ancestry in Newfoundland, Canada, putting your foot in it means accidentally saying or doing something that embarrasses or upsets another person.
So, that’s what I was going to write about today.
Then while I was doing my research, I learned that this phrase has a second meaning.
In the southern United States, one of the greatest compliments you can give to an African-American on their cooking is to say they put their foot in it.
Hey, I have no idea why they say this.
I’m not black, I’m not from the South, and I’m surely not American, but it is what it is.
Regarding the British English meaning, sometimes we may say something that causes a fuss, and we don’t know why.
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The Scottish are known for being quite cranky.
During my travels, I met a Scottish guy at a hostel and asked him what part of English he came from.
The guy became very angry very quickly.
It isn’t easy to understand the Scots in the best of times, so I think this is what he said, “Are you a F***ing American? No? Well, I’m not a goddam Englishman.”
I put my foot in it, and it did not taste good.
Never ask people where they are from by naming a country.
You should never ask a person where they are from, period.
Wait for them to volunteer it.
That way, you won’t put your foot in it as I did.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 79.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.
