Do you ever wonder about the etymology of some of the expressions we use every day without thinking about it? How and where did they originate, and what they mean? Let's find out.
Fred lived on the ground floor of an old 1950s walk-up. Jack, his upstairs neighbor, was a youngish fellow who worked evenings in a textiles factory, and it was late when he stumbled in. After his shift he would stop at the Raging Bull Saloon for a drink - just to help him sleep, you know.
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This awakened his slumbering neighbor downstairs. Even in his groggy state Fred cursed the rude interruption. He lay in the silence - knowing that there was another - waiting for the second thud.
However in the apartment above, despite the several pints he'd consumed, Jack realized he could be disturbing his downstairs neighbor, and so he eased off the second shoe, and it slipped quietly to the floor.
Fred, still waiting to return to sleep, finally yelled, "For crying out loud, will you drop the other shoe already".
And that is where we get the expression "waiting for the other shoe to drop".