What does ‘put your foot in your mouth’ mean?
To “put your foot in your mouth” means to say something tactless or embarrassing. A 19th-century idiom; Brewer's records the related 'put one's foot in it' — to blunder — and the American 'in one's mouth' form followed.
Origin
- A 19th-century idiom; Brewer's records the related 'put one's foot in it' — to blunder — and the American 'in one's mouth' form followed.
How to use it
- Usually said after realising a gaffe.
- Example: I really put my foot in my mouth at dinner.
Source:
Last verified: 2026-07-18
- Definitions and origins are drawn from public-domain reference works, primarily Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), with modern usage notes clearly marked.