fill someone's shoes

Quote

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Definition

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take someone’s place

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When Prince William married Kate Middleton last week, the whole world was watching. Every detail of the wedding was noted, from Kate’s gown to her engagement ring, which was the same ring worn by William’s mother, Princess Diana.

But did anyone notice Kate’s shoes?

When Prince William said no one was going to try to fill his mother’s shoes, he wasn’t actually talking about footwear. He meant that Kate won’t try to take his mother’s place. She won’t be exactly like Princess Diana. She’ll be her own person and create her own identity as a princess.

If someone retires and you take over his job, you’ll have to try to fill his shoes. If a woman marries a man whose mother always took care of him, she might feel like she has to fill her mother-in-law’s shoes. Or if you become the new roommate in a house full of people, you might be expected to fill the shoes of the person who last lived in your room.
Shoes are a pretty personal thing. People don’t often share them. And filling someone’s shoes isn’t easy, especially if that someone was a famous and adored princess. Luckily, Kate Middleton has some pretty nice shoes of her own. She might not be exactly like Diana, but like Prince William says, she’ll still do a very good job.

Do you think Kate Middleton will make a good princess? Have you ever tried to fill someone’s shoes?

Examples

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“Jenny’s mother was so admired and respected, it will be hard for Jenny to fill those shoes.”

“The woman who had my job before me was a really hard worker. I hope I can fill her shoes.”

“You don’t have to fill your dad’s shoes. You just need to be your own person.”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

	Assume someone's position or duties, especially in a satisfactory way by sepideh_saied
	take over my mother's position by sofree
	to be a substitute, to fill the place of someone absent by bienemaja
	To fill someone's shoes is to emitate his character and be in hs place by mr_sharief
	to do the duties that his mother used to do by Bitten by an Arab bug
	Take someone's place by R_P
	to take somebody's (his mother's) place by Cvetlana
	'fill someone's shoes' means to match or exceed the performance of a predecessor. by Talia Do
	to do as well as the other person did in that same position... or to substitute the other person as good or even better by Anrusch

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