Let The Grass Grow Under One’s Feet

Also:

To not let the grass grow under one’s feet.
Do not let the grass grow under your feet.

Meaning of Idiom ‘Let the Grass Grow Under One’s Feet’

To let the grass grow under one’s feet means to waste time; to fail to take advantage of an opportunity or wait to act until it is too late. ¹Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth M. The Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms. Ware: Wordsworth, 1995.,²Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.

Usage

This idiom is most often used in the negative, as in the two alternative versions above. To not let the grass grow under your feet means to act quickly, to make good use of one’s time, or to seize an opportunity.

Often expressed as a warning or advise as in ‘Do not let the grass grow under your feet,’ meaning act now or do not delay. ³Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.

Examples of Use

“Don’t let the grass grow under your feet. This offer will not be around forever.”

“We have too many problems facing us so we need a manager who will not let the grass grow under his feet.”

“John wasted a lot of time after college and let the grass grow under his feet. It took him years to find a direction in life.”

Origin

Used since around 1600, this idiom alludes to standing in one place [waiting] so long that the grass under one’s feet actually grows. ⁴Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.

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