Itchy feet - another strange English idiom

@JudyEv (382115)

Rockingham, Australia

October 12, 2022 8:49pm CST

I mentioned to rsa101 (@rsa101) that my cyclamen might get itchy feet if it stays in one place for a month after all the travelling it’s been doing lately. To try to keep it alive, I’ve been taking it to all our house-sit homes. If it has to die, I’d rather I killed it rather than have a friend fretting and worrying about it. As I wrote itchy feet, I wondered if rsa101 would be familiar with the term. It’s another of those strange idioms with which the English language is riddled. To have ‘itchy feet’ means to be restless and anxious to be moving on. On researching it, it seems it’s of American-English origin with one of the first usages appearing in a 1906 poem by Will F Griffin entitled 'De Propah Kind’. The photo is mine of one of the pretty bushes that is in the garden here. Isn't it beautiful? Edit: I had a better look at the plant today and it's a Leptospermum or tea-tree, and a member of the Myrtle family. Second Edit: Tea-tree oil doesn't come from this plant but from Melaleuca alternifolia.

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24 responses

@DaddyEvil (174500)

• United States

13 Oct 22

Yes, it is a pretty plant. I'm guessing you don't know what it is or you would have told us. I like seeing the new stuff you discover at the housesits.

5 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

I went out and had a look just for you and it's a Leptospermum or tea-tree (ti-tree). They don't always have such a profusion of blossoms.

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@DaddyEvil (174500)

• United States

13 Oct 22

@JudyEv Thank you very much for doing that. Those are really lovely.

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@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

@DaddyEvil I searched for Leptospermum and discovered I wrote about it in August 2016 which I think would have been soon after I joined myLot. Maybe I'll write about it again - more and better!!

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@shaggin (74987)

• United States

13 Oct 22

Hmm nope I don’t think I’ve heard of this saying before. Based on how you wrote it about staying in one place very long I could kind of decipher what it meant before you explained.

4 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

Sometimes idioms are self-explanatory but other times they must sound very strange if you've never heard them before.

4 people like this

@jstory07 (148734)

• Roseburg, Oregon

13 Oct 22

That is a very beautiful plant.

3 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

I really love these plants but they are not easy to keep alive.

2 people like this

@wolfgirl569 (135791)

• Marion, Ohio

13 Oct 22

Those bushes are lovely. I would love to have one here

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@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

I worked out it's a Leptospermum or tea-tree, and endemic to Australia so maybe they don't have them there. They come in a variety of colours. Here is one from our Donnybrook garden.

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@wolfgirl569 (135791)

• Marion, Ohio

13 Oct 22

@JudyEv It probably would not take our winters.

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@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

@wolfgirl569 I don't think it would cope with snow.

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Vicki, #1 Creek Girl

@1creekgirl (44560)

• United States

13 Oct 22

Those flowers are lovely. I hadn't heard that expression before.

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Vicki, #1 Creek Girl

@1creekgirl (44560)

• United States

13 Oct 22

@JudyEv I've heard of itching ears as when the Bible ways people have itching ears to only hear what they want to hear.

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@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

I wasn't sure if itchy feet would be a common phrase or not.

3 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Oct 22

@1creekgirl I didn't know about itching ears. I've learnt something. lol

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@magallon (19279)

• Philippines

13 Oct 22

That pretty bushes are indeed beautiful. I like its color..

3 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

I'm not sure what plant it is but it is certainly lovely at the moment.

3 people like this

@magallon (19279)

• Philippines

13 Oct 22

@JudyEv yeah i agree. It stands out among the bushes.

3 people like this

@rsa101 (40976)

• Philippines

13 Oct 22

The same idiom that is comparable to that is also used in our language. This basically implies that somebody with itchy feet is someone who enjoys moving around or traveling and does not like to stay in one place.

3 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

Sometimes there are similar idioms in other countries but not always. I'm glad you understood what I meant.

3 people like this

@snowy22315 (208962)

• United States

13 Oct 22

It might at that , if it likes traveling around with you.

3 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

If it doesn't, it better get used to it!

It has a few more moves to go yet.

2 people like this

@LadyDuck (502491)

• Italy

13 Oct 22

We have a saying in Italian for being restless and anxious, I would like it was about feet, it is not really polite.

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@LadyDuck (502491)

• Italy

13 Oct 22

Yes something up and it has something to do with peppercorn.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

Oh well, I'll just have to wonder what it is and maybe make something up. lol

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

@LadyDuck I'm starting to get the gist of what you're suggesting.

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@Fleura (35037)

• United Kingdom

13 Oct 22

Yes we can get itchy feet, and cold feet too! Is that the tea tree that the famous oil comes from?

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@Fleura (35037)

• United Kingdom

13 Oct 22

@JudyEv Maybe you should just do another post about tea tree and ti tree and maybe even tea (Camellia sinensis)!

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

@Fleura Good idea. Watch this space!

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@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

No, tea-tree oil comes from Melaleuca alternifolia, a small tree native to Queensland and New South Wales. I've added that to the text now too! lol

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@Deepizzaguy (122187)

• Lake Charles, Louisiana

13 Oct 22

The bushes in your garden are very beautiful.

3 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

The bees like these flowers as well.

2 people like this

@RubyHawk (99367)

• Atlanta, Georgia

13 Oct 22

We say itchy feet all the time for anyone that likes to travel or move around a lot. The bushes are pretty.

2 people like this

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@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Oct 22

@RubyHawk It's hard to know what is a common expression and what isn't.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

It's an old saying here but a couple of myLotters haven't heard it before.

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@RubyHawk (99367)

• Atlanta, Georgia

14 Oct 22

@JudyEv I know, I say something like that and some mylotters don’t know what I mean.

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@LindaOHio (222417)

• United States

13 Oct 22

That's a lovely plant. I'm sure it appreciates your taking it on your trips.

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@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

I hope so. It will have a month in one spot soon then a week at a seaside resort.

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@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Oct 22

@LindaOHio The house is in a canal complex. There might be a few mosquitoes though.

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@LindaOHio (222417)

• United States

14 Oct 22

@JudyEv That sounds wonderful. Take me along please!

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@Beestring (15372)

• Hong Kong

13 Oct 22

The bushes are beautiful. Good to learn what "itchy feet" means. :)

3 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

13 Oct 22

Some people know about itchy feet but it's a new phrase for others.

3 people like this

@BarBaraPrz (51823)

• St. Catharines, Ontario

13 Oct 22

I always thought that was a curious expression, because feet will continue to itch even after moving on.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Oct 22

There are a number of strange sayings in the English language. We also say stuff like 'itching to get involved' etc.

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@BarBaraPrz (51823)

• St. Catharines, Ontario

14 Oct 22

@JudyEv And sometimes we're just plain itchy.

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@Jenaisle (16568)

• Philippines

14 Oct 22

Thanks for sharing this, I have learned again some idioms. They're quite interesting and sometimes, fun to use.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

15 Oct 22

There are so many different ones, aren't there? And I'm sure some don't make any sense to those where English isn't their first choice.

@allknowing (153530)

• India

14 Oct 22

The tea trees do not look that they have been planted but may have just come up as weeds.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Oct 22

It would be unusual for them to appear if they haven't been planted there.

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Anne Marie Guyer

@LeaPea2417 (40032)

• Toccoa, Georgia

13 Oct 22

I have heard that idiom but awhile ago.

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Anne Marie Guyer

@LeaPea2417 (40032)

• Toccoa, Georgia

14 Oct 22

@JudyEv Yes I agree.

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@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Oct 22

To non-English speakers, it must sometimes seem that we have very strange sayings.

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@sol_cee (38669)

• Philippines

14 Oct 22

I’m a homebody now, I’m sure no itchy feet for me

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Oct 22

I was happy when we lived in the country but living in the suburbs gives me itchy feet.

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@Ronrybs (21497)

• London, England

13 Oct 22

Do wonder how these expressions hang on from such minor beginnings. I'd never heard of Griffin, but I do know his itchy feet!

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@JudyEv (382115)

• Rockingham, Australia

14 Oct 22

To a non-English speaker, some of our sayings must sound very bizarre.

2 people like this