05 November 2008

Shoes

Several expressions in English are about shoes... and how they might feel to strange feet. One such expression is "the shoe is on the other foot." It means that the traded shoes with someone else. The expression is often used when two people seen to exchange situations with each other. For example, you might explain to friend how things change overtime. You may tell the story of a boy who was laughed at in school, because he studied all the time and never had any fun. "But," you say, "now the shoe is on the other foot. He earned a lot of money, retired early, and is laughing at his classmates who have to keep on working. An expression that sounds similar is "to be in another person's shoes." It is often used to show a desire to change places with someone. If a friend is going way on a long holiday - and you are not- you may say, "I wish I were in your shoes." Or it can work the other way. If your friend is in trouble with his wife, you may say, "I am glad I am not in your shoes." The word "shoestring" has another meaning. If you do something "on a shoestring", you are working with very little money. A company, for example, that starts on a shoestrnig is one that began with little money, in a very small way. "Shoestring" is also used in sports. A football player is preaised when he makes a difficult "Shoestring" catch. It means the football was thrown low. Sometimes you may want to accuse someone of something. But you really do not want to say it to the person's face. So you used another shoe expression - "If the shoe fits, wear it." For example, if you own a business, you may sometimes suspect that all of your employees are not working as hard as you would like. You tell them that some of them do not seem to be working as hard as they could. One of the workers may ask, "Do you mean me?" and you say, "If the shoe fits you, wear it." You are telling him if he believes he is not working hard enough than you do mean him.


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