Itchy feet is a strong wish to travel or move somewhere new. People say it when someone has stayed in one place for a long time and feels pulled towards a trip, another city or a new job: I've got itchy feet. The idiom is conversational and mainly British. In essays, a desire to travel or feel restless is used instead.
When would you say itchy feet?
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have/get itchy feet; give someone itchy feet
- After a year in the same office, I started to get itchy feet and applied for a job in Berlin.
- Long winter evenings always give me itchy feet, so I start planning summer trips.
What changed
First versionAfter two years in the same city, I've got itchy legs.
RevisionAfter two years in the same city, I've got itchy feet.
Legs and feet are easy to mix up, especially as some languages use one word for both. But the idiom is fixed: it's the feet that itch. Only legs was changed to feet.
Itching to do something sounds similar but means you really want to do one particular thing: I'm itching to try my new camera. Itchy feet isn't about one task; it's a general wish for a change of scene.
Your turn
Kate has lived in the same small town for ten years, and now she's got ___. She's looking at jobs abroad.
Show the answer
itchy feet — Ten years in the same town and looking at jobs abroad point to a wish for change: itchy feet. Cold feet means “losing your nerve before a big step”, whereas Kate is ready to leave.
Write about a time when you or someone you know wanted to change everything and move away. Say how long they had spent in one place and where they felt drawn to.
After four years in the same flat in Kazan, my friend got itchy feet and moved to a small town by the sea.
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