“Be on the back foot”
Workالتعريف
أن تكون في وضع غير مواتٍ ومجبراً على رد الفعل بدلاً من أخذ زمام المبادرة.
English: To be at a disadvantage and forced to react rather than take the initiative.
أمثلة
أمثلة
1 / 2“The unexpected question put the speaker on the back foot.”
وضع السؤال غير المتوقع المتحدث في موقف غير مواتٍ وأجبره على الرد.
Use this idiom in context
Rewrite this example in plain English without the idiom. Preserve who is speaking, the time and the meaning.
The unexpected question put the speaker on the back foot.Compare with the original example
The unexpected question put the speaker on the back foot.
وضع السؤال غير المتوقع المتحدث في موقف غير مواتٍ وأجبره على الرد.
Write a two-line conversation using “Be on the back foot”. Make the situation clear enough that a reader can infer the meaning. Then replace the idiom with a plain-English explanation: does your conversation still mean the same thing?
Check the expression in a dictionaryالأسئلة المتكررة
- What does "Be on the back foot" mean?
- "Be on the back foot" means أن تكون في وضع غير مواتٍ ومجبراً على رد الفعل بدلاً من أخذ زمام المبادرة.
- How do you use "Be on the back foot" in a sentence?
- Example: "The unexpected question put the speaker on the back foot."
- Should I interpret "Be on the back foot" word for word?
- Understand the expression as a whole. Use the definition and example to learn its meaning rather than translating each word separately.