Lesson 3: To Get/Have Cold Feet

 

Collocations:  To have cold feet.

                        To get cold feet.

                        To have got cold feet.

 

Meaning: to feel nervous or scared about something you have decided to do strongly enough that you don't want to do it.  This idiom is most often used when talking about marriage.

examples

I got cold feet and called off (cancelled) the wedding.

I was going to tell him the truth, but I got cold feet.

John was going to ask Rebecca out on a date, but got cold feet and didn't even speak to her.

 

Usefulness Factor: 5/10

You will hear this idiom used on any television show, or in any movie where someone is going to get married.  Somebody will always ask the groom, or bride if they are getting cold feet.

You may not use this idiom so often because most people are pretty confident about getting married, and how often would you be talking to them right before the wedding about cancelling the whole thing? Very rarely.

In addition, if you fail to do something you decided to do, you might not tell that many people.  If you do, you might use another idiom like chicken out.

I wanted to talk to her about the problem, but I chickened out and sent her an email instead.

 

 

QUIZ 1:  Word Families

 

Fill in the chart with different forms of the word.  Some boxes will be left blank.  Check the quiz answers at the top right of the screen.

 

Verb	Noun	Adjective	Adverb
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