# 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.

## What it means

- 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.

## Action steps

1. Usually said after realising a gaffe.
2. Example: I really put my foot in my mouth at dinner.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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