What Does “put yourself in someone’s shoes” mean?
Definition:
If you put yourself in someone’s shoes, you try to see how it feels when you put yourself in their place. When you do so, you feel empathy by trying to look at a situation from a different angle – as if you were the other person.
Origin
This phrase has been credited as a Native American aphorism. Some, however, think that it has its origin in Mary T. Lathrap’s poem published in 1895. The original title of the poem was Judge Softly, later titled Walk a Mile in His Moccasins:
Pray, don’t find fault with the man that limps,
Or stumbles along the road.
Unless you have worn the moccasins he wears,
Or stumbled beneath the same load.
(…)
Take the time to walk a mile in his moccasins.
Here are similar idioms:
– Put oneself in someone’s place.
– Fill someone’s shoes.
– Be in somebody’s shoes.
Example(s)
– What could I have done to solve the problem? Just put yourself in my shoes.
– Never judge someone before putting yourself in their shoes.
This idiom is in the clothes category.
