to stand on one's own two feet
5
4.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
ser independiente
- After graduating, she was excited to finally stand on her own two feet and make her own decisions.
- a man standing on his own two feet
Examples
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Surely a few more years of funding, and he'll be able to stand on his own two feet.
Blog text (11) -
I mean, you wouldn't have gotten this far if you couldn't stand on your own two feet.
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That boy's got to learn to stand on his own two feet.
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When are you gonna wake up and stand on your own two feet, huh?
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Now you got to get out there... try to stand on your own two feet.
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A man should stand on his own two feet.
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If you want to be like your old man, learn how to stand on your own two feet.
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He wants her to learn to stand on her own two feet.
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Bella never grew up, never learned to stand on her own two feet.
Blog text (22) -
She could no longer depend upon them and must now stand on her own two feet if she is to maintain her self-respect.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
26
5.3
To do something without help from other people
16
5.6
Look after yourself without help from others
12
4.2
Able to live and support yourself without help from others
11
4.9
To be independent and not need help from others
7
6.5
To make your own decisions without other people telling you what to do
2
7.5
To be independent and take care of yourself without help
Antonyms
How Independent
984
2.3
- Informal
5
4.4
11
4.9
602
1.0
309
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
stand + on + one's + own + two + foot
The literal imagery — physically standing unaided on your own two feet — maps quite directly to the idea of being self-supporting, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can often infer the idiomatic meaning. However, the phrase is a conventionalized metaphor (non-literal and fixed in form) and requires a metaphorical mapping that is not purely compositional, so it is best classified as partially but not fully transparent.
Etymology
Stand on one's own two feet comes from the simple image of a child who learns to stand without help and uses their own two feet to keep balance. That's why the phrase means 'to be independent' and 'take care of yourself'.