have legs

English

WOTD – 24 April 2016

Runners at the 2014 London Marathon

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

have legs (third-person singular simple present has legs, present participle having legs, simple past and past participle had legs)

1. (idiomatic) To have endurance; to have prospects to exist or go on for a long time.
   • 2007, Pete Williams, How to Turn Your Million Dollar Idea Into a Reality (from the Man who Sold the MCG), Milton, Qld.: Wrightbooks, →ISBN, page 68:

     Your plan will tell you if your idea has legs and is viable.

   • 2011, Larry Garrison with Wallace Wang, Breaking Into Acting for Dummies‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: Wiley Publishing, →ISBN:

     The longer a film plays (which, in show business terms, means that the film has legs), the more the theater gradually earns from ticket sales.

2. (nautical) To have speed.
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see have,‎ legs.

Synonyms

• carry on
• endure
• hold up

Translations

to have endurance; to have prospects to exist or go on for a long time

• Finnish: kestää (fi)
• French: avoir la peau dure (fr), avoir la vie dure (fr)
• Hungarian: életképes (hu)

See also

• a lie has no legs
• die hard
• go a long way