vote with one's feet
verbEtymology
Probably based on the practice of pedibus in sententiam ire in the Roman Senate, but the phrase in its modern sense was popularized by Lenin, through whom it gained some currency in left-wing parlance in various languages. It became more widely known when Western journalists and politicians started using it, not without mockery, in reference to those individuals who fled Communist East Germany towards the West between 1945 and the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961.
Definitions
To express one's preferences through one's actions, by voluntarily participating in or…
To express one's preferences through one's actions, by voluntarily participating in or withdrawing from an activity, group, or process; especially, by physical migration to leave a situation one does not like, or to move to a situation one regards as more beneficial.
- That would enable the students to "vote with their feet" for programs of proven excellence and presumably for fields where the most jobs are available.
- TWA expects that its lounger will keep it flying high in transatlantic business, where it now leads all other airlines. Says Jesse Liebman, a TWA vice president: "Passengers vote with their feet."
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for vote with one's feet. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA