Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Why do we say "If the shoe fits, wear it"?

Well-Known Expressions

If the shoe fits, wear it

Meaning:

If an assessment of you is correct, then you must accept it, even if it's unflattering

Background:

Records of the expression "if the cloak fits" are found in 16th century English writing. For example, in Of the Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Polite (1593), Anglian priest Richard Hooker writes, "Which cloake sitteth no lesse fit on the backe of their cause, than of the Anabaptists."

In 1705, Daniel Defoe published a poem critical of the British parliament in which he wrote, "Gentlemen, and if the Cap fits any Body let 'em wear it."

In Britain, "if the cap fits" is still the norm; but in North America, by the late 18th century, the expression morphed into "if the shoe fits". The earliest known example being from the New York Gazette & Weekly Mercury, in 1773: "Why should Mr. Vanderbeck apply a general comparison to himself? Let those whom the shoe fits wear it."

According to phrases.org.uk, the shift from cap to shoe might have been influenced by the Cinderalla story, as versions of the story including the lost slipper were well known in the USA and Europe by 1773.

More expressions and their source

Challenge yourself with BookBrowse Wordplays

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...
  • Book Jacket
    The Rest of You
    by Maame Blue
    At the start of Maame Blue's The Rest of You, Whitney Appiah, a Ghanaian Londoner, is ringing in her...
  • Book Jacket: The Book of George
    The Book of George
    by Kate Greathead
    The premise of The Book of George, the witty, highly entertaining new novel from Kate Greathead, is ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

From the moment I picked your book up...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.