To walk Spanish
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To walk on tiptoe, being lifted and pushed by a moxe powerful person. From the behaviour of the pirates of the Spanish Main towards their captives. Span New. See SPICK.
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 “To walk Spanish” mean?
To walk on tiptoe, being lifted and pushed by a moxe powerful person. From the behaviour of the pirates of the Spanish Main towards their captives. Span New. See SPICK.
Is “To walk Spanish” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.