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Put you best foot forward

Posted by David FG on August 24, 2010 at 05:40

In Reply to: Put you best foot forward posted by Victoria S Dennis on August 23, 2010 at 18:45:

: : : I was once told in a master class discussing medieval dance that the phrase 'put you best foot forward' derived from the starting position of minuets. Also in many pictures from that era men would pose with their best foot forward to accentuate their calf muscles. Has anyone else heard of this possible origin?

: : Beware anything you are told by anyone with a vested interest. I wonder how the best foot was decided upon? The best thing about this phrase in my view is the implication that we have three or more feet.

: : Of course, the tradition answer here to 'I was once told' queries is - "...and what evidence did they give?".

: Well, medieval dance does not by any stretching of the definition include minuets, so an expert on medieval dance doesn't necessarily know a thing about minuets (which date from the late 17th century). And evidently this one didn't: 17th and 18th century men posed with one foot forward because the rules of correct deportment laid down that this was how well-bred men should stand. (The basic positions in ballet derive from Court dance and deportment of this period.)

: The proposition also just doesn't make sense, anyway - a man whose calves were so unequally developed that one was handsomer than the other would go to some lengths to avoid drawing attention to them! (Or wear one padded stocking, to even them up.)

: What is true is that in many cultures it has been thought lucky to step over a threshold, start a journey, or take any other ritually significant step with one's right foot, and an act of ill-omen to do so with the left. The "Satyricon" of Petronius Arbiter depicts a dinner party given by a nouveau riche Roman, where slaves were given the duty of reminding arriving guests to step into the room with their right foot foremost. Since the right foot was clearly agreed by all to be the "best" foot,this is quite possibly the origin of the phrase. (VSD)

All no doubt true, but I have sometimes wondered why this doesn't seem to have applied to the military, in which the command 'By the left, quick march' (or whatever the march speed might be) is a common - if not the most common - one.

DFG

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