to have a leg to stand on
7
6.5
- idiom
:
tener un argumento válido
- If you want to win this argument, you need to provide evidence; otherwise, you don't have a leg to stand on.
- They really have a leg to stand on
At the end of the day, your boss may not have a leg to stand on if you are getting your work done.
- At the end of the day, your boss may not have a leg to stand on if you are getting your work done.
Examples
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Your theory about Dennis no longer has a leg to stand on.
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At the end of the day, your boss may not have a leg to stand on if you are getting your work done.
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If that were the case, I could see people having a leg to stand on.
Blog text (23) -
You do not have a leg to stand on.
Blog text (19) -
You guys don't have a leg to stand on.
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Of course she didn't have a leg to stand on.
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Now when your mom accuses me of being a bad influence, she actually has a leg to stand on.
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The 911 Truth movement is long dead because it never had a leg to stand on.
Blog text (16) -
Because they don't have a leg to stand on any longer.
Blog text (9) -
Quite correct, the Republican critics of Susan Rice don't have a leg to stand on.
Blog text (9)
Antonyms
How Justified
7
6.5
- Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
have + a + legs + to + stand + on
The phrase maps a concrete image (literally having a leg to stand on as physical support) onto an abstract sense of support or justification, so a learner who knows the words can often infer the metaphorical meaning. However, this requires making a figurative extension rather than a direct compositional reading, so the sense is partly predictable but not fully obvious without prior exposure.
Etymology
The idiom have a leg to stand on comes from the simple image of standing: if you do not have a leg to stand on, you cannot stay upright and you have no support. So the phrase now means 'to have a good reason or support'.