Put Your Foot Down

A phrase with several genuinely different meanings layered on top of each other over time, all stemming from the same physical image of a firmly planted foot. The sense of standing your ground, as in battle, is documented from 1662. A later, broader figurative sense, standing firm on an issue or refusing to budge, developed by the mid-1800s. A third, much more literal sense followed in the early 20th century once cars became common: putting your foot down on the accelerator pedal to speed up. All three senses coexist today, which makes the phrase's single "true" origin hard to pin down.