Show a leg
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
Get out of bed, get moving, or demonstrate that you are awake. Informal and brisk. The accompanying story about sailors' wives should be labelled naval tradition, not treated as certain history. Regional use: British and American naval English; later wider informal use.
Origin
The command became a naval wake-up call. A long-repeated Royal Navy story says women permitted aboard could show a stockinged leg and remain in the hammock while sailors had to rise. Official naval histories preserve that tradition, but it is an anecdotal explanation rather than secure proof of coinage. The practical shipboard meaning 'get out of your bunk' is independently documented.
Research Sources
Variants
- Show a leg and turn out
Usage Examples
- Show a leg, sleepers; the launch leaves in ten minutes.
- The cook shouted up the stairs for everyone to show a leg.
- If we are to catch the dawn tide, you had better show a leg.