when we use this expression figuratively

[jrineakter]

So, we're going to look at the meaning of this expression and even its origin. Before that, a little clarification. I was talking at the beginning of the podcast about the expression being être dans les petits souliers de, but I realize that we use it more in the form "être dans ses petits souliers". So that doesn't change anything about the explanation of the words that I've done so far, but it changes a little bit at the level of the expression itself.

The expression "être dans ses petits souliers" (to be in one's little shoes) dates back to the early 1800s, around 1830. And we can guess the meaning if we imagine the following situation: We wear shoes, therefore footwear, which are too small for us. So we risk feeling discomfort, perhaps even pain, if we wear shoes or footwear which are too small. We would have difficulty walking, we would have difficulty standing and we would quickly become uncomfortable.

And today, well it means having a feeling of discomfort, being ill at ease, we are in an unpleasant situation or position, we are in our little shoes.

Let's look at some examples to clarify things. You may hear: "The intern was in his little shoes for his first day, this morning". This means that the intern was uncomfortable, he was in an switzerland whatsapp number data unpleasant situation, he had a feeling of discomfort, he was in his little shoes.

Another example: "I don't know what stupid thing he did, but he was in his little shoes all morning." Once again, we indicate that this person, the person we are talking about, seemed to be uncomfortable, to be in an unpleasant, uncomfortable situation. And to describe this state, we say that he was in his little shoes.

Last example: "We're waiting for the agency's response for the house we want to buy. We're in our little shoes. I can't even tell you." By saying that, we indicate that we're not comfortable, we're uneasy, we're in an unpleasant situation, we're feeling impatient here. And to describe this state, we say that we're in our little shoes or we're in our little shoes, simply because we change the pronoun of course, we say "I'm in my little shoes, we're in our little shoes."

And we're going to, I suggest, practice this now in the pronunciation exercise. As usual, you focus on my intonation, on my pronunciation, and you repeat after me by copying me. And I'm going to take care of changing the pronoun, we're going to conjugate, but you really focus on the pronunciation. Are you ready? Well, let's go.