The Other Shoe

[Xurando]

I've been trying to find the origin of the phrase "waiting for the other shoe to drop" as in pessimism. Does anyone have any ideas on or links to its origin?

Thanks,
X

[MaryEFoo]

Speculation: this dates back to the days of boarding houses and cheap hotels, where the guy in the room over yours would be thumping around after you were in bed drowsing off. He'd finally go to his bed, make undressing noises, and drop one show ker-thump on the floor.

So far you haven't waked up all the way, but at this point you finish waking up due to the anticipation of waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[Scruloose]

Originally Posted by MaryEFoo

Speculation: this dates back to the days of boarding houses and cheap hotels, where the guy in the room over yours would be thumping around after you were in bed drowsing off. He'd finally go to his bed, make undressing noises, and drop one show ker-thump on the floor.

So far you haven't waked up all the way, but at this point you finish waking up due to the anticipation of waiting for the other shoe to drop.

FWIW, that's exactly how I heard it explained. For the pessimism angle, it means long anticipation of another unwanted, but inevitable event. Or so I figured.

[Colophon]

Well, I always heard it as you couldn't get to sleep until the other shoe dropped, not that it would wake you up.

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