to vote with one's feet
2
7.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
votar con los pies
- In the community college setting, where students can "vote with their feet," one consequence of low-quality or demeaning instruction is that students simply drop out, so that post-tests would be an inadequate measure of effectiveness.
Examples
-
If environmentalists vote with their feet and with their pocketbooks, the shift toward such approaches has already begun.
Academic text (1995) -
If confidence in the war wanes, veterans will vote with their feet by refusing to reenlist, and prospective new recruits will avoid signing up in the first place.
Academic text (2005) -
I just think we can get a better deal if we vote with our feet.
Blog text (12) -
In the United States, citizens vote with their feet.
Academic text (1990) -
Let the states sort it out, and frankly, people can vote with their feet.
Blog text (4) -
People vote with their feet, much as in the Schengen Area.
Academic text (2018) -
Don't be upset, just vote with your feet.
Blog text (8) -
If the parents don't like it, their only recourse is to "vote with their feet" and leave.
Blog text (10) -
As consumers have voted with their feet, the Detroit automakers have been brought to the brink of bankruptcy.
Blog text (9) -
When the new school rules were enforced, many families decided to vote with their feet and move to another district.
Antonyms
How Direct
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase uses a clear metaphor: combining 'vote' (express a choice) with 'feet' (movement/leave) suggests expressing preference by leaving rather than casting a ballot. However, the mapping from physical movement to political/consumer choice is figurative and may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The phrase vote with one's feet comes from the simple image of people walking away from a place to show their choice: they vote by using their feet to leave. That's why it means 'to show they don't like something or choose somewhere else by leaving'.