Ali in Toronto, Canada, wonders about the expression to give or have a leg up, meaning “to be a step ahead of everyone.” The phrase comes from the idea of providing assistance to someone getting up into a saddle. A similar expression is to give a hand up. If you give someone a hand up, you’re helping them to mount a horse, climb a wall, or otherwise rise to a higher position. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “A Leg Up”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Oh, yes. Hi.
Hi, who’s this?
My name is Ali. I’m coming from Toronto, Canada.
Ali, welcome.
What can we do for you?
Thank you so much.
Yes, I had a question.
I was listening to one of the podcasts a couple of weeks ago, and I heard the phrase that leg up. For example, one of them said, if you know Mandarin, you have a leg up in business words. And I was wondering, why do you use that word?
So why do we say a leg up? And the meaning that you took away was?
Well, you have one step ahead of everyone who doesn’t know man. You have an advantage. You’re one step ahead.
That’s exactly right.
Yes.
It has to do with horses. If someone helps you get on a horse, they could be said to be giving you a leg up. They may literally make a little basket with their hands for you to step in and help ease you up, pull you up into the saddle.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
That’s cool.
Thank you.
Yeah.
It goes back hundreds of years, and it’s another one of those horsey terms that permeates English, and sometimes we just don’t realize that it’s a horsey term.
Yeah, it’s very interesting.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for calling. Really appreciate it.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
Bye.
Another one that’s like that is a hand up. So you can also give someone a hand up to help them mount a horse or to mount a wall or climb up something, right? Just get up if you’ve fallen and can’t get up. Give them a hand up. And that also goes back a couple hundred years.
