YouTube / iTunes / Spotify / Radio Public / Pocket Casts / Google Podcasts / Breaker / Overcast
Listen to ArtisanEnglish.jp posts & lesson intros here.
Idiom: The shoe is on the other foot
The shoe is on the other foot is used when a situation has reversed to be the opposite of what it previously was.
In other words, the person who had an advantage now has a disadvantage or vice versa.
It’s most often used when someone weak is now dominant, but it can also be used for the opposite meaning.
The bully in junior high school enters high school and becomes bullied: the shoe is on the other foot.
Likewise, the man who takes part in maternity harassment in his office returns home to hear that his wife has been a victim of maternity harassment at her office.
In English, we have another expression which goes you don’t know someone else until you have walked a mile in their shoes.
It’s sad to say, but it often seems humans can’t empathize with others until the shoe is on the other foot.