Search results
- DictionaryTrip the light fantastic
- ▪ dance, in particular engage in ballroom dancing
Powered by Oxford Languages
People also ask
What does trip the Light Fantastic mean?
What is the difference between 'trip' and 'fantastic'?
What does Light Fantastic mean?
What does 'trip' mean in a Light Fantastic round?
What’s the meaning of the phrase ‘Trip the light fantastic’? To dance, especially in an imaginative or ‘fantastic’ manner. What’s the origin of the phrase ‘Trip the light fantastic’? This apparently obscure expression originates from the works of John Milton. In the masque Comus, 1637, he used the lines:
On the light fantastick toe, In Milton's use the word "trip" means to "dance nimbly" and "fantastic" suggests "extremely fancy". "Light fantastic" refers to the word toe, and "toe" refers to a dancer's "footwork". "Toe" has since disappeared from the idiom, which then becomes: "trip the light fantastic". [6]
The idiom trip the light fantastic means to dance and usually refers to ballroom dancing. It is also used to help convey a sense of joyous and lively movement. It carries connotations of joy, freedom, and celebration.
- English Teacher
The phrase put one's best foot forward means "to make a strong early impression," though one might use it to mean "to make a strong effort to achieve something difficult." The phrase might suggest the proper order for marching, but early uses of the phrase, which dates to the 16th century, can be found in the context of dance.
Idioms and Phrases. Dance, as in Let's go out tonight and trip the light fantastic . This expression was originated by John Milton in L'Allegro (1632): “Come and trip it as ye go, On the light fantastick toe.”. The idiom uses trip in the sense of “a light, tripping step,” and although fantastick was never the name of any particular ...
The meaning of TRIP is to catch the foot against something so as to stumble. How to use trip in a sentence. to catch the foot against something so as to stumble; to make a mistake or false step (as in morality or accuracy)…
'Trip the light fantastic' means to dance nimbly and gracefully. Strictly speaking, it represents an adaptation of a poetical concept that was coined by Milton in L’Allegro (1632): "Come, and trip it, as you go, on the light fantastick toe."
