to shake off the dust from one's feet
- idiom
- Literature
:
sacudirse el polvo de los pies
- Rather than dwell on past failures, it's important to shake off the dust from your feet and embrace new opportunities.
Examples
-
Feeling disheartened by the criticism, he chose to shake off the dust from his feet and focus on more supportive friends.
-
Matthew 10:14: "And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town."
Blog text (32) -
After the difficult meeting, she decided to shake off the dust from her feet and move on to a new project.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To go away from a place, person, or group
773
3.1
Leave someone or something behind permanently and without care
632
3.5
Leave a person, place, or situation without taking part anymore
176
1.3
To leave a place to start a journey
175
8.4
To leave a place quickly or suddenly
14
6.8
Leave a place or start a journey
12
7.7
Leave a place quickly, often in a rude way
1
9.9
To leave a group or activity because you do not get your way
To leave past problems behind and start again
Leave a meeting or project because you are upset
To never see someone again after they leave quickly
Antonyms
How Final
67
5.8
- Literature
- Informal
5
6.6
5
4.7
670
3.1
∞
1.0
632
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
shake + off + the + dust + from + one + foot
The literal words describe the physical act of removing dust from one's feet, which transparently suggests leaving or moving away; however the conventional idiomatic meaning — deliberately severing ties or refusing future contact (a ritual, often biblical, sense) — is a cultural extension not fully predictable from the parts. A B1 learner who knows the constituents will likely infer a basic sense of departure but probably not the stronger connotation of resolute rejection, so the expression is only partly transparent.
Etymology
Shake off the dust from one's feet comes from a simple, literal action: when people left a town they would shake the dust from their feet to show they would 'not return'. That's why the phrase now means to leave a place or situation and 'move on' without keeping ties.