People who are pigeon-toed walk with their toes pointed inward, also referred to as in-toe walking. Walking with toes pointed out is called out-toe walking, or walking duck-footed. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Pigeon-Toed Walking”
Grant, what is your understanding of the word pigeon toad?
That somebody’s feet are kind of turned inward from the toes are kind of pointing each other a little bit?
Yes.
Why?
I figured that out only a couple of years ago.
What did you think, that the toes were widely splayed?
Yeah, I thought that it was what I subsequently found out is out-toe walking or duck-footed walking.
Oh, interesting.
But I bring that up because, you know, I think all of us have these things that we only learn later in life.
And I’m not embarrassed to say that for most of my life I thought pigeon-toed.
I just had this picture of pigeons with their toes pointed out.
I don’t understand why it’s called pigeon-toed because they’ve got these toes.
They’re pointed in lots of directions.
I guess.
I don’t know. I’m going to have to look at pigeons. But anyway, I’m thinking that other people have those kinds of, you know, I was today years old when I found out this word. But I’m embarrassed to say that I was reading a novel and the term pigeon toad was in there. And I was reminded that I just I just learned that a couple of years ago.
It happens. Readers have this problem all the time.
Because when you’re a kid, you kind of glide over it, and then you glide over it again.
And then suddenly it’s decades later that you’ve been gliding over it.
Right.
Oh, well. Tell us if you’ve just kind of learned a little too late something didn’t mean what you thought it meant.
Tell us an email, words@waywordradio.org, or on Twitter @wayword.
