Land on one’s feet

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Grammarist

Land on one’s feet is an idiom that seems to have come into common use in the 1800s, though the idea may have been in use much longer. We will examine the meaning of the idiom land on one’s feet, where it came from, and some examples of its use in sentences.

To land on one’s feet means to come through a difficult situation or a challenge and prosper. Someone who has landed on his feet is none the worse for wear; he has endured difficult times and come out uninjured. The idiom land on one’s feet is often used to describe someone who has endured a financial difficulty and ended up still prosperous. The image invoked by the expression land on one’s feet is the cat, which is reputed to be able to land on its feet no matter how it falls. This is not true, of course, but it is a well-known bit of folklore. Related phrases are lands on one’s feet, landed on one’s feet, landing on one’s feet.

Examples

But I do feel optimistic I will land on my feet and am on the lookout for the right opportunity in the PR or media relations world. (The Buffalo News)

“I think he’s going to land on his feet and he’s going to be a successful person because of those characteristics that he brought to our program every day,” Smith said of Flynn. (The Columbia Daily Tribune)

‘I thought I’d landed on my feet,’ she says, sitting in her spotless living room with her cockerpoo Hetty beside her (‘She’s only allowed on the sofa because she’s just been groomed’). (The Daily Mail)

Less than two weeks after leaving his position as coach and general manager of the Coquitlam Express, Jason Fortier has landed on his feet. (The Tri-City News)