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in your shoes

in your shoes

12 4.6
To imagine you are in someone else's situation and act or feel the same way
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : en tu lugar
  • What I know is that if I were in your shoes and I was looking to get away from that, I'd have to figure out how much money it would cost to, to walk away.
  • walk a mile in your shoes
  • want to be in your shoes
  • putting myself in your shoes

I, when I've been in your shoes, it's been, it's been miserable.

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Examples

  • I hope that you get to feeling stronger and more confident, and hopefully the difficult experience that you went through—and blogging about it—will help others who might be in your shoes one day.

    Blog text (14)
  • Okay, I was in your shoes not long ago.

    Blog text (12)
  • You must talk to that one person who has been in your shoes before.

  • There is somebody that would kill to be in your shoes and go through the problems that you have.

  • Truth be told, they would upset me too if I were in your shoes.

    Blog text (9)
  • If I were in your shoes, I would tell her... for several reasons.

    Blog text (7)
  • If I were in your shoes, I'd probably think the same way.

  • I can't even imagine being in your shoes!

    Blog text (12)
  • Listen, if I were in your shoes, weathering (pun intended) what you've been through, eating healthy would be the last thing on my mind.

    Blog text (18)
  • If I were in your shoes, I would feel overwhelmed by the pressure.

Synonyms

in someone's shoes
vsin your shoes
18 3.4

In the same situation as someone else so you understand how they feel or act

is used to say you would act or feel the same in that situation
5 3.7

Imagine being in another person's situation to understand their feelings

is used to say you would act or feel the same rather than only imagine
to be in someone's shoes
vsin your shoes
  • Informal
2 4.2

To imagine being in another person's situation to understand how they feel

is used to say you would act or feel the same rather than only imagine
in the same shoes
vsin your shoes
  • Informal
4.6

In the same situation as someone else

is used to say you would act or feel the same in that situation
to stand in someone's shoes
vsin your shoes
3.9

Imagine yourself in another person's situation to understand how they feel

is used to say you would act or feel the same in that situation
to step into someone's shoes
vsin your shoes
  • Informal
4.9

To imagine how someone else feels and sees things

is used to say you would act or feel the same in that situation
to walk a mile in someone's shoes
vsin your shoes
  • Informal
4.9

Imagine being the other person to understand their feelings and situation

is used to say you would act or feel the same in that situation

Antonyms

780 1.1

In a way that is not the same as another person or thing

Surface Forms

Morphology

in + your + shoe

The phrase uses literal parts ('in' + 'your' + 'shoes') to express being located inside someone’s footwear, but its real use is a metaphor mapping shoes onto a person’s situation; a B1 learner who knows the words can often guess the intended meaning, yet the metaphorical leap is not purely compositional. Cross-linguistically speakers use various mappings (place/position, skin, shoes), so the sense is partially transparent but still relies on idiomatic metaphor and prior exposure for full predictability.

Etymology

In your shoes comes from the picture of putting on someone else's shoes and walking their path. One popular story says this picture came to mean 'in the same situation', so it now means you would feel or act the same way if you were them.