Put one's foot in one's mouth
The phrase my foot or step into the Fettnapf means "with someone ruin" because an issue was raised, which is unpleasant for those affected.
The phrase has been documented since the 19th century. It probably goes back to the peasant custom of keeping a bowl of boot fat on the floor near the stove . In a variant of the explanation, bowls are meant that stood on the kitchen floor to catch the dripping fat from sausages and ham hung from the ceiling for smoking and drying . In both cases, there was a risk that an inattentive visitor could accidentally step inside, staining and splattering the floor and annoying the housewife.
The ironic variant “ someone don't let go of a fat bowl” describes someone who “does everything wrong that he can do wrong”.
The English equivalent is "put one's foot in it".
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swell
- ↑ Lutz Röhrich: Article: Fettnäpfchen , in: ders., Lexicon of proverbial sayings, Volume 2, 4th edition Freiburg, Basel, Vienna 1999, page 438.
- ↑ Georg Schwedt: When the yellow of the egg turns blue, chapter "Fat", 2012, ISBN 3527641270 , online .
- ↑ Knäpper, Fritz: Das Fettnäpfchen . In: Halbach, Gustav Hermann u. a. (Ed.): Where the anvil sounds ... 2nd edition. Remscheid 1989, p. 92 .
- ^ Wiktionary .