English
Alternative forms
Phrase
which foot the shoe is on
- (idiomatic) Which point of view is considered or whose interests are used as a basis.
- 1915, Hannah Kent Schoff, The Wayward Child: A Study of the Causes of Crime, Bobbs-Merrill Co., p. 22 (at archive.org):
- "A whole lot depends on whose foot the shoe is on. I have noticed some of these fellows who speak about sentiment do not object so much to it when it works their way."
- 1948 Dec. 9, "Shoe on the Other Foot," Milwaukee Journal, p. 18 (retrieved 14 Aug 2015):
- As usual, it makes a difference which foot the shoe is on. All too often the farmer has been willing to vote for legislation as long as he was exempted. . . . But he doesn't like it when it is proposed that laws he supports when they apply to others also be applied to him.
- 2000, Raymond Barber, Don't Look Now, But Your Attitude is Showing, ISBN 9780873981811, p. 105 (Google preview):
- The little girl said to her mother, "Mother, why is it when you are cross, you say it's your nerves; and when I'm nervous, you say I'm cross?" It depends on which foot the shoe is on, doesn't it?
- 2015 July 28, Jeff Stein, "Nonprofits Seek to Keep Communities Intact Amid Rampant Gentrification," New York Nonprofit Media (retrieved 14 Aug 2015):
- Some of those involved with the Broadway Triangle proposal, however, dispute the coalition’s claims that the project unfairly excludes minority residents.
- “It all depends on which foot the shoe is on,” said Rabbi David Niederman. . . . “Other groups are trying to dilute the chances of Jewish families getting access to affordable apartments by trying to include another large community board in the development.”
Usage notes
- Often preceded by a form of the verb depend.
See also