Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

Evil, cold , calculating -- with (yellow) feet of clay.

It was part of a description of Mr. Burns.

WhY *feet of clay*?

Thanks

[RedRose]

I once heard of this saying from a foreign friend, and he told me that this phrase means Deadly weakness or something that can't be confirmed.

I don't know whether this explanation is right. let's wait for our English teachers:bud, Bob, or iitimone7...

[iitimone7]

the only thing that i can think of on this is like a heart of stone, head of steel...clay, stone, and steel are materials that are not easily penetrable.

if someone has feet of clay, i would guess that it means no matter what is happening to a person, he will not be moved, not be broken.

[iitimone7]

thanx for your confidence, redrose...iitimone7

[Vin21]

Another meaning is when clay meet water,it will turn soft or melt ,so that means something weakness or something that doesn't hold water.

[bud]

That's it, Vin. I've heard the phrase many times, but always had only a vague idea of what it really meant. Here's a great description:

http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19991001