The story
Perhaps from Dutch or Afrikaans voetganger (“pedestrian”, literally “foot-goer”), or a partial calque of German Fußgänger (“pedestrian”), equivalent to foot + ganger (“goer, walker, stepper”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
footganger
Today it means: A juvenile locust or grasshopper while in its wingless or flightless phase. Full definition →