to trip over one's own feet
1
6.8
- idiom
- Informal
:
tropezar con los propios pies
- It is a wonder you do not trip over your own feet.
- walk without tripping over one's own feet
Examples
-
" Then he shambles away, around the corner of the barracks, past Rhodes, who is tripping over his own feet, trying to get out of the rifle gunny's way.
Fiction book (1998) -
She grabbed for the switch, almost tripping over her own feet in her haste.
Fiction book (1990) -
And try not to trip over your own feet.
-
You trip over your own feet.
-
I know that when I moved into my neighborhood years ago, it was so dark at night that you could trip over your own feet.
Blog text (27) -
Can't dance without tripping over my own feet.
Fiction book (1991) -
Caught the one pass thrown to him and then tripped over his own feet, preventing what was likely a certain touchdown.
Blog text (23) -
The resulting catch would have gone for a touchdown had Flacco, the poor lanky bastard, not ended up tripping over his own feet in excitement.
Blog text (25) -
"Yes," Ramsey answered, then watched in exasperation as his brother tripped over his own feet and knocked a chair over in his haste to join his friend.
Fiction book (1999) -
As he hurried to catch the bus, he nervously tripped over his own feet.
Synonyms
219
2.2
To cause someone to stumble or lose balance
67
1.0
To lose your balance or stop being steady and end up on the ground
49
1.9
Lose your balance when your foot hits or catches on something while walking
1
9.1
To lose your balance and land on your backside in an awkward or embarrassing way
1
9.9
To fall and turn over in a sudden, clumsy way
1
9.9
To fall in a clumsy way and land head over heels
To stumble and catch your foot while walking
To fall or sit down suddenly and hit your bottom
How Clumsy
Surface Forms
Morphology
trip + over + one's + own + foot
The meaning 'to stumble or fall awkwardly due to one's own clumsiness' is directly and literally derivable from the constituents: 'trip' (to stumble) + 'over' (across/above) + 'one's own feet' (the speaker's own feet). This is a compositional, imageable action that follows common cross-linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the words would readily understand it.
Etymology
Trip over one's own feet shows a simple, funny picture: someone literally trips over their own feet, catching one foot on the other and stumbling or falling. That's why it means 'to stumble or make a clumsy mistake', often because you are nervous or not ready.