should be on your toes

Voxy

Voxy

Senior Member
Hamburg; Germany
Deutschland, deutsch
Hi folks,

just to get it straight, "you should be on your toes" means
something along the line "you should be alarmed", right?
(...) This is the calm before the storm. This (...) means something, and you should be on your toes ...
Click to expand...
Thanks in advance.

Voxy
 
    • "On your toes" as a sprinter would be when about to make a 100 meter sprint.

    It means "be ready" (for quick action); as opposed to "be ready" (with diligent preparation).

    I suppose someone could make a point (pun) that "on your toes" would mean "on pointe" as a ballerina would be on her toes. I don't think that is the case here, though.
     
    On one's toes = alert. You have to be on your toes if you want to be in this business.
     
    If my teacher "kept me on my toes," that means he made sure I was with him and that I didn't fall behind. So he would ask me questions to see if I understood, or make mistakes on purpose to see if I would catch them.
     
    river said:
    On one's toes = alert. You have to be on your toes if you want to be in this business.
    Click to expand...
    This is what I suspected somehow.

    For example does it make sense to say:
    "Next thursday I have to be on my toes, because then
    I have a very importend appointment with some executives.
    This day can be a life changer."     in order to say:
    "Next thursday I have to be very careful and very well prepared..."

    Voxy

    PS: I am really thrilled by you all guys.
     
    I'd understand what you meant by that but it sounds a little weird to me. I would just say "be ready."

    It's like when people trying to learn English use words that are not wrong and make sense, that just sound strange. I think it happens a lot in English because it has so many words.
     
    Musical Chairs said:
    I'd understand what you meant by that but it sounds a little weird to me. I would just say "be ready."

    It's like when people trying to learn English use words that are not wrong and make sense, that just sound strange. I think it happens a lot in English because it has so many words.
    Click to expand...

    Yes I agree. It is a common problem of any foreign language
    learner. People try to use words to build sentences, which they think
    they sound good and don't care about about correct idiomatically use.

    Sometimes less is more, right?

    Voxy
     
    The last time I heard this, my teacher was making lots of mistakes on the board one day and when someone told him he forgot a variable (it was math), he said "see, I'm keeping you on your toes!" even though his mistakes were by accident. He was kidding. He wanted to make it look like he knew what he was doing, even though everyone knew he was a little off that day.
     
    Bottom line is, said idom is not exactly everyday english,
    but you can throw it in from time to time under certain
    circumstances.

    Voxy
     
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