what does waiting for the other shoe to drop mean

 

What does waiting for the other shoe to drop mean?

Another way of saying "I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop" is "I'm expecting something bad to happen." This phrase implies that one is anticipating some sort of impending disaster. One may use this phrase when they are in a difficult situation, like being unemployed, and they are expecting their employer to fire them or their car insurance company not wanting to renew their policy. The idiom also can be used when someone has just had an event come out of left field like getting fired from a job they thought was secure or getting into an accident without any prior signs that it was coming. This phrase is used in many different situations.

Example 1: John was surprised when his boss was forced to lay off 5% of the workforce. He was expecting the other shoe to drop and he was worried about how this would affect his family.

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Example 2: The police officer who's being investigated by Internal Affairs hears a file marked "inactive" on his desk, meaning he'll be fired soon unless they come up with something to show that he has done anything wrong. He knew that something bad had happened, but didn't know what it was yet so he is waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Example 3: `I'll call you when I get home,' his ex-girlfriend said as she left for work. She didn't know what happened to him, but she knew that something bad had happened so she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It would be nice to hear from her later, but this was not going to happen because she was getting fired from her job.

Example 4: Gwen's friend had just been brutally beaten by his wife, who then called the police and told them that he had attacked her. He was arrested and charged with attempted murder, so Gwen knew something bad had happened. Gwen knew that the other shoe had dropped and she was waiting for it to drop again .

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Example 5: As the two men were driving past a car accident, one of them said, "Looks like someone had an accident." They both knew that something bad had happened because of the fact that one of the drivers was laying bloodied in a hospital bed, but they weren't sure what it was. They knew that there was going to be more bad news coming soon because they would find out later that his wife had been murdered.

Example 6: A mother was interviewing her daughter for a job in a fast food restaurant when she saw her daughter's face turned beet red. She asked her girl what happened and her daughter said, "I don't know--it feels like something bad is going to happen. I just want to be prepared." She knew that something bad had happened and it was having an effect on her daughter, but she didn't know what it was.

Example 7: A cop learned that his pal had been arrested for dealing drugs and he told his buddies, "Looks like I'm gonna have to testify against him." He knew that something bad had happened, but he didn't know why yet.

Example 8: The dinner was going well until the conversation turned to a recent separation. The man's girlfriend then started saying how much she missed him and how she couldn't wait to get back together with them. He knew that something bad had happened and he grew worried about their relationship because of the way she was talking.