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"Stood to his feet" --- is this a common expression?


KarenNC
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This is a bit different but, FWIW, my kids are studying the book of Acts in the bible this year. On two different occasions, people are given commands to stand on their feet.

14:10 and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.

26:16 Now get up and stand on your feet. I have....

 

That wording is unusual enough that it caught their attention when studying.

 

Oh, there is also the idiom "standing on your own two feet." Past tense would be stood.

 

I think stood to his feet sounds better than stood on his feet. 

I'm pretty sure I've heard things like "The crowd stood to their feet." ETA, never mind. Google hits seem to indicate people are more likely to say "The crowd stood on their feet." I'm pretty sure I hear to instead of on around here.

Edited by sbgrace
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If it's common in your area could you give the general region? Thanks!

 

We're in the Piedmont area of NC and I don't recognize it as being really common here, at least not that I've noticed, but it's not as jarring as if it were totally foreign to me, either, which is one reason I'm curious.

Edited by KarenNC
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I've never heard the phrase. Stood up or rose to his feet, jumped to his feet. Never stood to his feet. It sounds...wrong somehow.

 

For reference I have lived in Canadian prairies, NC, AZ, MN, ND, CA.

 

ETA: Stand ON your feet is more common than Stood TO his feet. Stood on his feet. "To" is what makes it sound clumsy - like an ELL is mixing prepositions.

Edited by fraidycat
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This is a bit different but, FWIW, my kids are studying the book of Acts in the bible this year. On two different occasions, people are given commands to stand on their feet.

14:10 and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.

26:16 Now get up and stand on your feet. I have....

 

That wording is unusual enough that it caught their attention when studying.

 

Oh, there is also the idiom "standing on your own two feet." Past tense would be stood.

 

I think stood to his feet sounds better than stood on his feet. 

I'm pretty sure I've heard things like "The crowd stood to their feet." ETA, never mind. Google hits seem to indicate people are more likely to say "The crowd stood on their feet." I'm pretty sure I hear to instead of on around here.

 

My first thought when she asked was to go check and see it if was in the KJV, but a search using biblegateway.com didn't turn up tht particular phrasing. Googling the phrase did, however, give a number of results in biblical commentaries, I think Protestant ones, which makes me wonder if it may be more common in what I think of as "sermon speak" or "revival speak," language that ministers of some denominations tend to use commonly in sermons. Though I can't think of a concrete example at the moment, I know there are certain turns of phrase that I have heard turn up pretty regularly in Baptist, Evangelical, or Pentecostal sermons around here over the years, for instance, that I don't associate with day-to-day speech. 

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can't say that I'd say it but it doesn't strike me as odd at all.  Kinsa's examples are good.

 

ETA:  as I keep thinking about it, it sounds more and more normal and I probably would say it.

 

Mostly midwest.

Edited by 8circles
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If I've ever heard it before, I haven't kept the phrase in my memory.

 

With our travels, it wouldn't surprise me if I've heard it, but I tend to overlook some peculiar things concentrating on the meaning rather than phrasing.

 

It's definitely not common in my circles in places we've lived (NY, RI, VA, FL, PA).

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Here's a guess:  I hear *frequently* the phrase "standing on your knees"--because that is a posture of prayer.  Perhaps "stood on his feet" is based archaically in wording to make it clear how one is standing...on one's knees or on one's feet.  It's just a guess though...and I have heard it outside my church.

 

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Here's a guess:  I hear *frequently* the phrase "standing on your knees"--because that is a posture of prayer.  Perhaps "stood on his feet" is based archaically in wording to make it clear how one is standing...on one's knees or on one's feet.  It's just a guess though...and I have heard it outside my church.

 

I've only heard "standing on your knees" in hardcore charismatic churches.

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