We say we “foot the bill” when we pay for something simply because when you’re totalling up figures on an account ledger, the total comes at the bottom of the sheet— or, the foot. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Foot the Bill”
Here’s a phrase you might have used recently if you were thinking about paying for your kids college or maybe a wedding. The phrase foot the bill. Foot the bill. Why? Foot. Good question. I bet you have an answer.
I do. I was asking the question myself and so I went and looked it up. It turns out that foot the bill refers to an account ledger.
If you’re totaling up the column of figures, the income and the outgo, and adding the result to the bottom of the column, then you’re footing up. It’s the thing on the bottom of the whole list, right?
Yeah, yes.
There’s the phrase to foot up to, which means to count. Like I counted the pile of bills and it turned out to be $45 or something. Is that an old-fashioned phrase, to foot up?
Yeah, yeah, I think so.
But to foot the bill is to pay that number down at the bottom. To foot the bill because it’s the bottom. The foot of the ledger. It’s like the foot is the bottom of your leg.
Yeah, how cool is that? I never thought about that.
I didn’t either. I thought it was like kicking the responsibility or something.
