let the grass grow under one's feet

present singular third person lets the grass grow under one's feet · participle present letting the grass grow under one's feet · alternative let the grass grow round one's feet

1. idiomaticTo dally; to fail to make progress.

   She'd scrubbed up. Moved on. Stepped right over Phil, over his grave. For this was not a girl to let the grass grow under her feet, particularly the grass on a mound.

   2011, Catherine Alliott, A Rural Affair, →ISBN

   5 more examples

   I haven't let the grass grow under my feet. I was wired for at 3:15, reached Yoxley Old Place at 5, conducted my investigation, was back at Charing Cross by the last train, and straighte to you by cab.

   1904, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez

   Mr. Fiennes repeated his promise to run expresses between Paddington and Cardiff in 2hr. "We're not going to let the grass grow under our feet," he said in a reference to progress with the Severn Road Bridge, and predicted that the 2hr trains would be running "before very long".

   1964 November, “News: London Cardiff in 2hr?”, in Modern Railways, page 349

   What happens when we let the grass grow under our feet for once and just spend a bit of time looking around without imagining that we've got all the answers and that no one before us had anything much to offer?

   2008, Stephen Cottrell, Hit the Ground Kneeling: Seeing Leadership Differently, →ISBN, page 21

   He and Rebecca then found a secluded boardinghouse to which Will and Susannah would move on Monday. Before the westbound left on Saturday morning, McCaleb spent a few minutes alone with Will. “You'll be released from here Monday,” ... Don't let any grass grow under your feet in Cheyenne; once you're there, head for Box Elder Creek.”

   2009, Ralph Compton, The Western Trail: The Trail Drive, →ISBN, page 61

   If you like being in there at the beginning of a company then get ready to bail out when the company starts to grow. Never let the grass grow under your feet. Jobs for life are history, so if you treat people right but they still want to move onto new things you can't stop them.

   2010, Shaf Rasul, Secrets of a Serial Entrepreneur: A Business Dragon's Guide to Success, →ISBN