十八世紀愛爾蘭政客Sir Boyle Roche常常發表驚人的言論，例如：Half the lies our opponents tell about me are not true! （那些攻擊我的謊言，十有四五都是無中生有！）當時人們笑他失言，就說：He has put his foot in his mouth again.
Put one’s foot in one’s mouth直譯的話是“把自己的腳放進自己的嘴里”，為什么它的意思卻是“說錯話”呢？原來這個成語是從另一個成語put one’s foot in it衍生出來的。Put one’s foot in it本來是指一不小心一腳踩在污水或比污水更加厲害的東西上面，現在英國人也直接用這個成語來表達“說錯話”。put one’s foot in one’s mouth就是一不小心一腳踩在自己的嘴巴上了，也就是說錯話，美國人更習慣這種用法。
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English對put one’s foot in it / put one’s foot in one’s mouth的解釋是這樣的：to say something wrong or unsuitable, as a result of thoughtlessness, and so cause an awkward situation.
例如：
I really put my foot in my mouth when I asked him how his wife was; she’s left him for another man.
（我真的不該多嘴去問他他的妻子怎樣，她已經離開他而跟另一個男人去了。）
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