another pair of shoes
Preserved but no longer current.
A different thing altogether; quite another matter. A shoe too large trips one up. A Latin proverb, Calceus major subvertit. An empire too large falls to pieces; a business too large comes to grief; an ambition too large fails altogether.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “another pair of shoes” mean?
A different thing altogether; quite another matter. A shoe too large trips one up. A Latin proverb, Calceus major subvertit. An empire too large falls to pieces; a business too large comes to grief; an ambition too large fails altogether.
Is “another pair of shoes” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.