Where Does the Expression ‘Put Your Foot in Your Mouth’ Come From?

We’ve all put our foot in our mouths at least once—metaphorically, at least. This vivid little expression commonly refers to making an awkward blunder in a conversation, like mixing up someone’s name or making an ill-timed joke. It first appeared in print in the late 18th century, but its exact origins are murky. 

Putting your foot in your mouth came about only after the phrase put your foot in it had established itself in the English language as a way to refer to making a mistake. The first print appearance of the expression was in a 1796 play. In Bannian Day, a play by George Brewer, one character expresses their uncertainty: “To be sure I an’t now a little at a loss to know whether I’ve made a good hand of this, or whether I’ve put my foot in it.” 

The fact that the phrase was tapped for a medium that’s meant to be acted out suggests that people may have been saying something similar, if not identical, aloud regularly before it was ever written down. It’s thought that this original expression may first have emerged from the idea of accidentally stepping in something undesirable, like mud or feces.

It’s not clear if putting your foot in your mouth, in particular, was a derivative of this first phrase or if it emerged independently, but it wasn’t until 1879 that the version we know initially appeared. The Iowa-based Waterloo Courier reported that someone was “bound to put his foot in his mouth whenever he [opened] it,” and in 1902, the Atlanta Constitution wrote, “General Bragg has gone and done it again! His happy faculty of putting his foot in his mouth whenever he opens it hangs to him like a toper’s appetite.”

Putting Your Foot in It vs. In Your Mouth: What’s the Difference?

Still, as similar as they may appear to be, there are slight differences between these two phrases. For one, put your foot in it is more often used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, whereas put your foot in your mouth both emerged in and more commonly appears in the American lexicon. 

But put your foot in it is also a much more general saying. Conversely, putting your foot in your mouth is reserved for conversational mishaps—your foot is in your mouth because of a verbal mistake, specifically—while put your foot in it could refer to any erroneous action. So, for example, while accidentally spoiling a surprise gift for someone would be considered both putting your foot in your mouth and putting your foot in ‘it,’ buying someone a terrible gift would only ever be called putting your foot in it. 

Moving away from its original construction, putting your foot in your mouth further evolved in the mid-20th century into the term foot-in-mouth disease for those who can’t help but make constant social blunders. It’s a tongue-in-cheek term referencing foot and mouth disease, which is a real illness that affects livestock with hooves, like cows, pigs, and sheep. Usually, animals that contract this illness are put down to avoid it spreading to others—though luckily for humans with foot-in-mouth disease, the consequences aren’t usually so severe.

Interestingly, however, putting your foot in something may not always be used negatively. A notable exception to the usual association is the phrase’s definition within African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). Instead of referring to an embarrassing mistake, the phrase is used to compliment particularly delicious cooking. If someone made an especially phenomenal meal, they’re said to have put their foot in it.

So, next time someone tells us we’ve put our foot in something, we can only hope they’re talking about a dish we’re serving them and not something we’ve just said.

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