as ever trod shoe-leather
See also: as ever trod shoe leather
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Treading shoe-leather refers to walking, in the sense of “walking on this earth”.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əz ɛvə ˈtɹɒd ˈʃuːˌlɛðə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /æz ɛvɚ ˈtɹɑd ˈʃuːˌlɛðɚ/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Hyphenation: as ever trod shoe-lea‧ther
Phrase
[edit]- (idiomatic, archaic) As ever existed or lived.
- 1767, Andrew Barton [pseudonym; Thomas Forrest or Francis Hopkinson?], The Disappointment, or, The Force of Credulity: A New American Comic-opera, of Two Acts, New York [i.e., Philadelphia, Penn.]: Printed [by John Dunlap?], →OCLC; The Disappointment, or, The Force of Credulity: A New American Comic-opera, in Three Acts, 2nd edition, Philadelphia, Penn.: Printed for and sold by Francis Shallus […], 1796, →OCLC, page 34:
- As grate a rascal, as ever trod shoe-leather.
- 1809 February, E[nos] Bronson et al., “On the Marriage Manufactory at Gretna Green”, in Select Reviews, and Spirit of the Foreign Magazines, volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: From the Lorenzo Press of E. Bronson; published by Hopkins and Earle, […], →OCLC, page 118:
- As handsome a gentleman, to be sure, as ever trod shoe leather! I wonder that old folks can be so very, very blind!
- 1825, [John Neal], chapter XXVI, in Brother Jonathan: Or, The New Englanders: In Three Volumes, volume II, Edinburgh: William Blackwood; London: T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 446:
- "He is a brave Indian, sir." – "Oh – is that all?" – "As brave a man, as ever trod shoe leather." – "Hum!" – "Yes." – "But Indians – do they tread shoe leather?" – "He's very brave, I mean – very." – "Why not say so, then?" – "I do."
- 1830, [Theodore Edward Hook], chapter II, in Maxwell. [...] In Three Volumes, volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, pages 54–55:
- [I]t's his temper as has saved his life; he's the best-temperdest cretur as ever trod shoe leather.
- 1855 October 6, [Elizabeth Gaskell], “Half a Life-time Ago”, in Charles Dickens, editor, Household Words: A Weekly Journal, volume XII, number 289, London: [Household Words] Office (printed by Bradbury and Evans), →OCLC, page 236:
- I've ne'er heard his name named since I saw him go out of the yard as stout a man as ever trod shoe-leather.
- c. 1855, Lyman Beecher, “The Revival”, in Charles Beecher, editor, Autobiography, Correspondence, etc., of Lyman Beecher, D.D., volume II, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, published 1865, →OCLC, page 72:
- It was as finely organized a Church as ever trod shoe-leather.
- 1865 September 23, “Mrs. Brown and the Emperor of the French”, in Fun, London: Published (for the proprietors) by Thomas Baker, →OCLC, page 17:
- I'm sure I never shall forget the turn young SIMMONS gave me when he came in with that paper as he'd been and copied out of a winder thro' being in a west-end house, tho' livin' at home with his mother, as steady a woman as ever trod shoe-leather, [...]
Alternative forms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]as ever existed or lived