Today is Sunday, and that makes it idiom day! So today, I have an interesting expression for you: “cold feet”. We use this when we talk about a person who is really nervous about something that they are planning to do and is considering changing their mind about doing it. For example:
A: My wedding is tomorrow, and I’m really nervous about it!
B: I hope you’re not getting cold feet!
My brother agreed to make a speech at the conference but, at the last minute, he got cold feet and said he couldn’t do it.
A: You look really nervous about giving this presentation. If you have cold feet and don’t want to do it, I’ll understand.
B: No, it’s ok. I’m a little nervous, but I don’t have cold feet. I’ll do it.
I just heard that the Mark Jackson’s wedding was cancelled. I guess either Mark or his fiancee had cold feet and decided to call off the wedding.
This idiom is often used in situations to do with weddings and getting married, but it can be used in other situations as well. If we use it in the past tense, as in the second and fourth example sentences, it means that the person actually did actually cancel the plans because of being too nervous.
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