Origin and Meaning of "Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop"
Researching the origin of the phrase was quite interesting. I found that the origin most likely was known in the 1950's. A British sitcom depicted an individual who lived in an apartment beneath a man who worked nights. The person in the lower apartment would be sound asleep when the tenant of the upper apartment came home. The tenant in the upper apartment would sit on the edge of the bed to take his shoes off. The first shoe hit the floor with a loud bang, awakening the sleeping tenant in the lower apartment. The groggy neighbor would remain awake until he heard the other shoe drop. The tenant in the upper apartment would remember that he had a sleeping neighbor below, and take the second shoe off and carefully place it on the floor, making no noise. The groggy neighbor would then yell, "For God's sake, drop the other shoe!"
In researching the origin of the phrase, waiting for the other shoe to drop, I found that most accounts of its origin were very similar. Some sources indicate that waiting for the other shoe to drop derived from an old tale of a traveler who stayed at an inn. The innkeeper informed the weary traveler that he would be in a room next to a very light sleeper. Much as the scenario above, the traveler awakened the occupant in the adjoining room by dropping his shoe on to the floor.
Waiting for the other shoe to drop likely came in to use long before the 1940's. A cartoonist in the era depicted Hitler with a shoe over the top of his head and the caption "waiting for the other shoe to drop." Regardless of its true origin, waiting for the other shoe to drop is a phrase that has withstood the test of time, as it is still commonly used today.
While many commonly used phrases derive from the middle ages or from some historic event, it seems that waiting for the other shoe to drop is somewhat a modern phrase. If you would like to read similar articles on the origin and meaning of popular phrases, click on the author's name at the top of this page. Feel free to leave the author comments.
Published by Angela Russell
Angela was born and raised in Middle Tennessee. She married her high school sweetheart and has two teenage children. Angela currently provides bookkeeping and accounting services for nearly one hundred sm... View profile
-
Easy Personalized Products You Can Make and Sell on the Web
Personalizing products for sale on the web. Making money with Zazzle. And just having fun creating some cool stuff.
- The Son Speaks It might be true. There could actually be "something" of which we are part; something that is only perfect love; something that just is, and that was not born, and that cannot die...and the world turns out to be but...
- Canadian Banks - Have They Bounced Off the Bottom? Is it time to invest in these bluest of blue chip companies?
- Am I the Only One? This is a piece about feeling lost and confused.
- Top Idiots of the Week Awards Spo many idiots, so little space...
- But He's Always Sorry Afterward
- Are EBay and Store Sellers Headed for Divorce?
- Black and Blue on the Inside; The Stigma of Abuse
- The New York Mets Are Playoff Bound
- Review of the Visitor
- No Resistance with the Law of Attraction
- No Resistance with the Law of Attraction
|
|
7 Comments
Post a CommentI suppose the 2nd shoe isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when it has dropped, you will have - whatever it is - figured out. That is how I see it.
So yes, a sense of foreboding while waiting for something to happen, or to learn something, even if you aren't certain that thing will ever come.
I forgot to mention that I was referring to the "guy in the upstairs apartment who gently puts down the 2nd shoe thus making the people downstairs impatiently wait for the dropping sound of the 2nd shoe" story which is generally accepted as the origin of the phrase.
I like Seth's theory about the "foreboding of ill news" because everytime I've heard the phrase used, it seemed to be in the anticipation of something bad. This is also why I don't see how the "anticipation of an UNEXPECTED event" theory doesn't work for me. It should at least read "anticipation of a BAD or UNFORTUNATE event".
Thank you Angela! It always seemed the expression implied some foreboding of ill news. I thought perhaps the neighbor was worried that the sound he heard upstairs was that of the tenant slumping over with a heart attack, but assuaged his fear by waiting for evidence to the contrary.
Great anecdote!
I love to know the name of that sitcom. Sounds like a show I would like ;)
Thank You fer sharin' and fer the giggle too. ;-}}>