A terrible analogy to be sure, but this expression, “to hold someone’s feet to the fire”, actually was once a torture technique used to force confessions, a technique that is said to have been practised during the middle ages, i.e. the dark ages.
Dark ages – so called because humanity has hence moved forward and seen the light, so to speak. Today, people generally regard all forms of torture as beneath human. The CIA, among others, still uses torture but that is an exception to the rule.
In short, nobody literally hold anyone’s feet to the fire any more. Therefore, whenever you see these words, you know people are speaking idiomatically. They’re merely saying they want to keep up the pressure and not relax until they get the results they’re seeking.
In France, if Hollande were somehow able to make his 75 percent tax rate a reality, that would be no less an achievement than the French Revolution – call it the Hollande Revolution,.
No torture techniques, of course, but it is up to the French voters to constantly keep Hollande’s feet to the fire, asking every week, for instance, how he is doing with his campaign promises.
Alright, here are a few media examples of people whose feet are held to the fire:
1. The Obama administration should hold Iran’s “feet to the fire” for the alleged plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Wednesday.
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