Liz: Thank you for your thoughtful followup. True, "foot" is more nearly symbolic in its origin. It might be interesting to start a new thread discussing how its meaning is different from "pay" (I speculate that the former usu implies a slight feeling of obligation)

But that doesn't explain why my expression isn't found in the slang dictionaires, which contain thousands if not tens of thousands of more or less direct and visual entries

Eg, dead white European male; look like a drowned rat; group grope; blow a gasket; you've got it wired; baby sit; follow-home robbery; crash and burn; go jump in the lake; missionary position; hammer away at; enough to choke a horse; does a wooden horse have a hickory dick?

Last edited by dalehileman; 01/05/2006 6:25 PM.
dalehileman