{"id":2980,"date":"2022-04-08T17:16:39","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T17:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=2980"},"modified":"2022-04-08T17:16:39","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T17:16:39","slug":"shake-a-leg-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/shake-a-leg-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Shake a Leg - Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are you looking for a way to tell someone to hurry up? If so, you could ask them to \u201cshake a leg.\u201d This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The meaning of the expression \u201cshake a leg\u201d is to hurry up because you\u2019re late. If someone asks you to shake a leg, they are telling you to make haste with your activity. The saying applies to social and professional situations.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The original meaning of the expression was a term for dancing. While this version is still in use today, it\u2019s more common as a statement to tell someone to hurry up. You can use it with your colleagues, friends, partners, and kids to ask them to make haste with what they are doing.<\/p>\n<h2>Example Usage<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cC\u2019mon, kids, the bus is almost here. Finish your breakfast and grab your bag, or you\u2019ll miss it, and I\u2019ll have to drive you again. I don\u2019t have time for that this morning, so shake a leg.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGary, I asked you for that report yesterday already. Shake a leg with it, will you? I need it today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHurry up, Clive, we\u2019re going to miss the train if you don\u2019t get moving. Shake a leg, will you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf those girls don\u2019t shake a leg and finish getting ready, we\u2019re going to miss the reservation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShake a leg over there, don\u2019t get too far away from the group, or you\u2019ll end up getting lost in the forest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2981\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Shake-a-Leg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"195\" height=\"130\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2982\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Shake-a-Leg2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"195\" height=\"127\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Origin<\/h2>\n<p>There are several variations of \"shake a leg,\" and many of them relate to dance terms. During the 18th and 19th centuries, \"shaker a foot\" and \"shake your heels\" were common variations of the saying.<\/p>\n<p>However, these terms disappeared over the centuries, and now the only one that remains is \"shake a leg.\" However, it rarely has a use for dancing anymore, and most people use it as a way to tell people to hurry up.<\/p>\n<p>There are several appearances of the expression in publications throughout the 1800s. The Dubuque Democratic Herald published an advert for a local dance in 1863, which reads as follows.<\/p>\n<p>\"Nearly every man in town able to shake a leg has purchased a ticket.\"<\/p>\n<p>The dance variations of the saying in modern language include expressions like \"Shake, rattle, and roll\" or \"shake your booty.\"<\/p>\n<p>Today, the saying means \"hurry up,\" and the earliest use of the expression in print comes from New York Magazine in 1904, where it appears as follows.<\/p>\n<p>\"Shake a leg ... meaning to 'hurry up.'\"<\/p>\n<p>The saying has an American origin, and the British version of the expression is \"get a legger on.\"<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"shake a leg\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/B4THBYQ8fXI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Phrases Similar to Shake a Leg<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Chop chop.<\/li>\n<li>Hurry up.<\/li>\n<li>Double-time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Phrases Opposite to Shake a Leg<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Take your time.<\/li>\n<li>No rush.<\/li>\n<li>Whenever you\u2019re ready.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Shake a leg.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Ways People May Say Shake a Leg Incorrectly<\/h2>\n<p>The phrase has nothing to do with shaking your leg. It\u2019s a horseracing term adapted to modern language describing picking up speed in a task. Using the phrase as a way to tell people to shake their legs is technically correct but not the intent of the expression. Some people may also use \u201cshake your legs,\u201d which is a less common variation of the saying.<\/p>\n<h2>Acceptable Ways to Phrase Shake a Leg<\/h2>\n<p>You can use \u201cshake a leg\u201d in social and professional settings where you\u2019re asking people to hurry up. For instance, you could use it at home when telling your kids to hurry up or they\u2019ll be late for the bus. Or you could use it at work when telling colleagues or employees to complete a task with haste.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2\">Are you looking for a way to tell someone to hurry up? If so, you could ask them to \u201cshake a leg.\u201d This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression. Meaning The meaning of the expression \u201cshake a leg\u201d is to hurry up because you\u2019re late. If someone asks you to shake a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2980"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2980"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3073,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2980\/revisions\/3073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}