2006-11-02 20:20:26 · 13 answers · asked by farideh F 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
You are elderly or maybe very sick and nearing death.
One foots in, you just have to die and the other will follow shortly.
2006-11-02 20:22:03 · answer #1 · answered by Yellowstonedogs 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Daniel is right, the phrase is almost never associated with someone actually being near death, it is normally used as black humour, for example "I'm too old for climbing hills like that, I've got one foot in the grave, you know!", or "Look how grey my hair's gone, I've got one foot in the grave now!". It was the title of a long-running BBC sitcom about a couple in their 60s, obviously having many years to live, but facing some of the issues of age.
2006-11-02 23:09:52 · answer #2 · answered by Sangmo 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
All of the answers are "literally" correct, but it is not usually used
in this sense. After all, you would never refer to a very sick person as having one foot in the grave. That would be cruel.
It is more likely to be used in the negative sense as in:
I don't exactly have one foot in the grave.
If you see a middle aged person dancing to modern music
and express your surprise that he can do it, he might reply,
" I may be old, but I don't have one foot in the grave".
Cheers!
2006-11-02 20:58:57 · answer #3 · answered by True Blue 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it means either death or ageing ... nearing time to death, there is a british comedy series named just that 'one foot in the grave' deals with a retired ageing couple and the mans inability to deal with society changing and not staying the same as it was in his day
2006-11-02 20:27:10 · answer #4 · answered by belliehi 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It means someone is in bad health. If someone has bad health they have one foot in the grave because they could die anytime soon. Maybe that's what this means?
2006-11-02 20:22:02 · answer #5 · answered by Daft One 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To "have one foot in the grave" is to be close to death, because the dead are buried, in graves.
One's burial place in a cemetery is called a "grave."
2006-11-02 20:22:01 · answer #6 · answered by zen 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A person says that when they are saying that they are on their way to dying. Now, I've heard people use that terminology and it's literally true due to a physical situation. I've also hear people overblow the situation they are in and use it where there is no physical harm to them.
2006-11-02 20:23:12 · answer #7 · answered by BAM 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
someone really ill - grave means dead so you are literally very near to death
2006-11-02 20:35:55 · answer #8 · answered by coolcat 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means a person is very ill, perhaps near death.
2006-11-02 20:21:46 · answer #9 · answered by Rusting 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
means a person is nearing death.
2006-11-02 21:39:49 · answer #10 · answered by Jill 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋