Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to lay at the feet of

to lay at the feet of

1 8.1
To say someone caused or deserves credit for something
  • idiom
translation icon : atribuir a
  • I really do struggle to see how this can be laid at the feet of women, or of "sexism" against men.

How much of this do you lay at the feet of modern parenting styles?

Examples

  • The fault can be largely laid at the feet of bad teachers and their unions.

    Blog text (13)

  • All of this can be laid at the feet of our so-called Christian churches who, decades ago, stopped teaching the Word of God and started teaching tolerance and political correctness.

    Blog text (8)

  • But some blame can be laid at the feet of W.

    Blog text (1)

  • How much of this do you lay at the feet of modern parenting styles?

    Chris Williamson

  • I agree that education is failing in America, but I would dare say that it's not something that can really be laid at the feet of an organization, but rather society.

    Blog text (13)

  • That the economy is tanking lays at the feet of this president.

    Blog text (27)

  • Of course, the blame for that should be laid at the feet of management that negotiated too long a contract with poor economic modeling, or at Wall Street for blowing up the economy.

    Blog text (27)

  • While there is certainly blame to be laid at the feet of FEMA for some things that failed, much of the blame for the loss of life in New Orleans must be directed at local officials.

    Blog text (9)

  • A major portion of the fault in our current politics and governance can be laid at the feet of the voting public for not working hard enough to be informed and to organize corrective actions.

    Blog text (20)

  • Many people believe that the success of the initiative should be laid at the feet of the dedicated volunteers.

Synonyms

to credit
vsto lay at the feet of
110 3.5

To publicly say someone is responsible for something

is broader, attributing responsibility beyond public acknowledgement
to assign
vsto lay at the feet of
47 3.2

Say that a person or cause made something

is more about simple acknowledgement rather than formal attribution
to hand it to
vsto lay at the feet of
  • Informal
43 4.6

Praise someone for doing something well

is a neutral attribution of cause rather than informal praise

How Much Credit

credit
829 2.4
to lay at the feet of
1 8.1
to ascribe
35 6.8
to mention
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

lay at the feet of infinitive
laying at the feet of present participle
lays at the feet of third person singular
laid at the feet of past
laid at the feet of past participle

Morphology

lay + at + the + foot + of

The phrase evokes a literal spatial image—placing something 'at the feet of' someone—that can suggest attributing or offering something to that person, so there is a recognizable compositional basis. However, the specific pragmatic sense of crediting or attributing responsibility is a figurative extension and not fully predictable for a B1 learner without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

The phrase lay at the feet of comes from the image of placing something at someone's feet. You would literally lay a gift or object at a person's feet to show it belongs to them, so the phrase now means 'to give someone credit or blame'.