Put Your Best Foot Forward

Future of ESLToybox

Welcome to 2022! As some people say, “today is the first day of the rest of your life.” Are you ready for a new year? Do you have any big plans? A lot of people make new years resolutions as a new year is an opportunity to makes changes in your life. Put your best foot forward this year. Personally, I don’t really have any resolutions, but I do have some plans for esltoybox. One thing I am considering is making explainer videos for these posts. I want to get an Adobe Animator character made based on my appearance. But until then, maybe I’ll just post videos with me reading the text. In January, my wonderful trainees are also going to help me make some content for esltoybox’s YouTube channel. We will explore some board games that can be used in the ESL classroom. Each video will have rules, a demonstration, a discussion of how to use it, and a review. I know that is something a lot of people are interested in, so I am grateful that they want to help me make those videos. Happy new year everyone!

Meaning

Putting your best foot forward means to means to try as hard as you can. Your best foot is your best effort. So, you should always lead with your best effort first. If you have multiple strategies, you should try the one with the best chance of success first. Rolls off the Tongue makes the point that it is a grammatically confusing statement. Since we have two feet, the phrase should be, “put your better foot forward.”

Example: In an interview you always want to put your best foot forward.

Origin

Putting your best foot forward first appears in 1613 when Sir Thomas Overbury said, "Hee is still setting his best foot forward.” However, some sources date it to as early as 1495. You could also make the case that Shakespeare was the first person to use the phrase in King John (1595): “Nay, but haste; the better foot before.” In Latin, the right foot is considered lucky and the left foot is considered unlucky. This suggests that the right foot is the “best” foot.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life

This proverb is one about hopefulness. It says to forget the past. Today is a chance to change your life for the better. For example, if someone is quitting smoking, you could tell them that this is the first day of the rest of your life. It is saying that today is your first day without smoking and you can stay that way for the rest of your life. Indeed, the origin of the proverb is related to addiction. It is attributed to Charles Dederich, the founder of Synanon, a self-help community to drug and alcohol addiction. New years is a good chance to make changes.

Resources:

https://westwardsagas.com/early-american-trivia-put-your-best-foot-forward/
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/put-your-best-foot-forward.html
https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/put-your-best-foot-forward
https://rollsoffthetongue.tumblr.com/post/146092434330/put-your-best-foot-forward-origin-16th-or17th
Wagener, A. P. (1935). On “Putting the Best Foot Forward.” Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, 66, 73–91. https://doi.org/10.2307/283289
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Today