I came across the phrase “get one’s pants off” impossibly in association with Confucius analects in the following sentence which I found in a website, but forgot to jot down the source:
What kind of leadership will help to restore the credibility of our financial institutions? Perhaps we should try to listen to Confucius. No, he didn’t say, “If you keep your feet on the ground, you can’t get your pants off ”. But many of the things he did say are about what it takes to be a leader who wins respect while getting things done.
Although I found definitions of “take (your) pants off” in urban dictionary and “getting her pants off” in www. theatraction forum, I wasn’t able to find the definition of “get one’s pants off” in any major dictionaries. However, Google NGram Viewer shows growing incidences of this phrase since its emergence in 1925 and temporary drop-down of usage during 1955 through 1965.
It’s possible to interpret “If you keep your feet on the ground, you can’t get your pants off” in the context of leadership in restoring credibility of financial institutions in either way: (1) If you keep your feet firmly on the ground, you’ll never be perplexed, or (2) If you stick to the status quo, you’ll never make any change (or take an action). I don’t know which way I should take it. Perhaps there would be other ways of interpretation.
Though I don’t think I can use this phrase in front of ladies, is this a popular phrase, or a simple slang which is rarely used?
Best Answer
Bill Franke has it right. The sentence simply means that if you keep your feet on the ground, then it is impossible for you to remove your pants.