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Did you know that August 6 is Wiggle Your Toes Day?
Yes, apparently our toes have their own day.
And while that may sound like one of those holidays invented simply because we have run out of things to celebrate, it gives us a surprisingly good excuse to talk about English. Because those ten small toes come with quite a bit of vocabulary, including useful verbs, everyday expressions, and idioms that have almost nothing to do with feet at all.
So, in honor of Wiggle Your Toes Day, let’s learn a little English from the ground up.
Do your toes have names in English?
Sort of.
Unlike our fingers, which have familiar names such as thumb, index finger, and ring finger, most of our toes have much less exciting everyday names.
- big toe: the largest toe. You may also hear great toe, particularly in medical contexts. The anatomical term is hallux.
- second toe: the toe next to the big toe.
- middle toe: the third toe.
- fourth toe / ring toe: the toe between the middle toe and the little toe. Ring toe is also used, although fourth toe is the more straightforward everyday name.
- little toe / pinky toe: the smallest toe.
So if you have spent your entire life wondering what your fourth toe is called, the answer is a little disappointing: usually, your fourth toe. Although ring toe does make it sound a little more important.
What can your toes do? Useful verbs in English
Your toes may be small, but they are surprisingly active. They can wiggle, curl, spread, flex, and point.
- wiggle your toes: move them back and forth with small, quick movements. Wiggle your toes inside your shoes.
- curl your toes: bend them inward. She curled her toes in the sand.
- spread your toes: move them apart from one another. Try to spread your toes.
- flex your toes: bend or tighten them. Flex your toes a few times.
- point your toes: extend your foot and toes away from you. The instructor asked us to point our toes.
There is a useful grammar pattern hiding here too. When we deliberately make these movements, the verbs are commonly used as verb + object:
wiggle your toes
curl your toes
spread your toes
flex your toes
point your toes
Some of these verbs can also be used with the toes themselves as the subject, especially when we are describing a movement that happens rather than an action someone deliberately performs: Her toes curled.
And then we have tiptoe, which behaves a little differently. To tiptoe is a verb meaning to walk quietly on the front of your feet, with your heels raised: He tiptoed out of the room so he wouldn’t wake anyone. We don’t say tiptoe your toes.
English likes to keep things interesting.
And then there’s the dreaded “stub your toe”
It is almost impressive that such a small part of the body can cause so much pain when it meets the corner of a bed, table, chair, or other perfectly innocent piece of furniture.
There is a specific expression for that unfortunate experience in English:
to stub your toe = to accidentally hit your toe against something hard.
I stubbed my toe on the coffee table.
Notice the grammar here as well: we normally use stub + possessive adjective + toe: stub my toe, stub your toe, stub his toe.
And because stub is a regular verb, the past form is stubbed. The final consonant doubles before -ed: stub → stubbed.
Painful experience. Useful English.
English idioms and expressions with “toe”
This is where toes stop being toes. English uses toe in several expressions whose meanings are figurative rather than literal.
Keep someone on their toes
If something keeps you on your toes, it makes you stay alert, attentive, and ready to react.
My students always keep me on my toes.
Nobody is literally standing on their toes here. The expression is about being ready for whatever happens next.
Go toe-to-toe with someone
To go toe-to-toe with someone means to confront or compete directly with that person.
The two candidates went toe-to-toe during the debate.
You will often hear this expression when two people or organizations are evenly matched or facing each other directly.
Dip your toe into something
If you dip your toe into something, you try something cautiously before deciding whether you want to become more involved.
She decided to dip her toe into freelance work before leaving her full-time job.
Think of testing the temperature of water with one toe before jumping in. The literal image makes the figurative meaning fairly easy to remember.
Step on someone’s toes
To step on someone’s toes means to offend or upset someone by interfering in an area they consider their responsibility or territory.
I have a suggestion, but I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.
This can be particularly useful in professional situations when responsibilities overlap, and you want to be diplomatic.
Toe the line
To toe the line means to follow the rules or conform to an expected standard.
Everyone on the team is expected to toe the line.
And yes, it is toe the line, not tow the line. The expression may sound as though something is being pulled or towed, which makes the spelling mistake easy to understand. But the word here really is toe.
Why toe? The expression comes from the literal idea of placing your feet with your toes right up against a line. Its earliest known uses appear in military contexts, where soldiers lined up in formation with their toes at a marked or imaginary line; the same literal idea is also familiar in sports. Because toe and tow are homophones, tow the line is an easy mix-up, but it is incorrect. There is no pulling or hauling involved. You are putting your toes on the line.
Bonus expression: wiggle room
We started with Wiggle Your Toes Day, so it seems only fair to finish with wiggle room.
Wiggle room means flexibility or freedom to make small changes to a plan, decision, price, schedule, or arrangement.
The deadline is Friday, but we have a little wiggle room.
There may be some wiggle room in the budget.
It is especially useful in professional and business English. And no, despite today’s theme, no toes are required.
English is everywhere, even in your toes
One of the best things about learning a language is realizing how much vocabulary is hiding in ordinary life. A strange little holiday about wiggling your toes can take us from body-part vocabulary to grammar, spelling, phrasal expressions, idioms, and even Business English.
So, in honor of Wiggle Your Toes Day, wiggle your toes if you feel like it. Just watch out for the coffee table.
And the next time someone tells you to stay on your toes, toe the line, or asks whether there is any wiggle room, you’ll know exactly what they mean.
This article was written by Yoly Rueda, founder of Remote Study Academy and Traducción Jurada Guatemala, where she works as an English-Spanish sworn translator authorized in Guatemala. A graduate of New York University, she holds a master’s degree in International Relations from Universidad Francisco Marroquín and is currently completing a master’s degree in Education at University of the People. Through Remote Study Academy, she teaches English to adults and professionals through personalized online instruction.
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