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If the shoe fits, wear it
If the shoe fits, wear itIf something belongs or pertains to you, accept it. This proverb first appeared as “if the cap fits,” which may have referred to a fool's cap. The later version has become more common and is associated with the glass slipper in the fairy tale, “Cinderella.”
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if the shoe fits, wear it
if the shoe fits, wear itAlso, if the cap fits, wear it. If something applies to you, accept it, as in These problems are hard to solve, and most people would need help, so if the shoe fits, wear it! This expression originated as if the cap fits, which alluded to a fool's cap and dates from the early 1700s. Although this version has not died out entirely, shoe today is more common and probably gained currency through the Cinderella fairy tale, in which the prince sought her out by means of the slipper she lost at the ball.
If the shoe fits, wear it
CulturalExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Jefferson, swaggeringly: "If the shoe fits wear it/ If New York is in debt, why should Virginia bear it?"
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2015
Our putting Reebok on the laggard list is as correct as the old adage: If the shoe fits, wear it.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.