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Reader question: Please explain “no legs to stand on” in this passage: “I find conservative friends becoming less vocal politically. I think they are realizing they have no legs to stand on.” My comments: Another nice nimble idiom – probably American in origin – to learn. First, the speaker means to say that his Conservative friends have become less vocal – stopped talking so loud about their politics – because they’re realizing their doctrines are not convincing – because they’re unsupportable. The speaker probably made the remarks before an election or a public debate or some other major event. And if an upcoming election were indeed the case, the speaking saying that his Conservative friends “realizing they have no legs to stand on” suggests they are realizing they’re going to lose the election, period. At any rate, that’s what we may more or less safely infer – from the fact that “they have no legs to stand on.” We humans stand on our two legs for support. If we don’t have a leg to stand on, we will find us lying on the floor in a heap. This American idiom is almost certainly inspired by the simple fact that in order to stand up erect and firm, one needs to build a pair of strong legs. To give you an idea, American basketball players sometimes talk of “not having their legs under them” after a few minutes of play. That means they lack the stamina needed to last the whole game. | 
