Putting your feet to the fire

Posted by ESC July 25, 2008 at 07:37In reply to Putting your feet to the fire posted by Helen Morton on July 24, 2008 at 20:24:

What is the origin of the phrase "Putting your feet to the fire"?

I am guessing that at one point, when people used open flames or a stove for heat, it was literal. Holding someone's feet to the fire was a way of making them do or not do something.

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Putting your feet to the fire Smokey Stover 26/July/08