foot the bill?

[juliana0403]

Hi....

I have one English question...

Does 'let me foot the bill" mean that "let me pick up the tab"?

The expression, "foot the bill", is commonly used ?

[Ouisch]

"Foot the bill" means pay for it, similar to "picking up the tab." Usually, though a "tab" refers to a smaller amount, like the bill for dinner in a restaurant. "Foot the bill" usually (but not always) makes reference to a larger expense, such as: "Comerica Bank has agreed to foot the bill for the City of Detroit's new baseball park."

[Saxonlight]

Where it came from:

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-foo1.htm



Chris
http://www.hearseesay.com

[Daruma]

Do you use the phrase "foot the bill" in daily speech?

Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary[2]
< foot the bill >
to pay for something:
- His parents footed the bill for his college education.
- It was a business lunch, so the company is footing the bill.

foot - Definition from Longman English Dictionary Online
< foot the bill >
to pay for something, especially something expensive that you do not want to pay for:
- He ordered drinks and then left me to foot the bill!

Indictment: Hussein fed money to spy for U.S. officials' trip - CNN.com
Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency footed the bill for a U.S. congressional delegation's trip during a buildup to the Iraq war, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday in the case of an Iraqi-born U.S. citizen charged with spying for the Iraqi government.