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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

mud on one's boots en · NOUN

Etymology

An allusion to various lines of work where a person is physically present on site, e.g. construction as opposed to architectural design.

Meanings

  1. (figuratively, uncountable) Practical experience.
    • Cook never attained meaningful practical experience, but Herron loved site mud on his boots. 2008, Kenneth Allinson, Architects and Architecture of London, page 390:
    • The civil engineer, for all his skills, is still often known as the man with mud on his boots. 1966, Teaching Engineering Design: Proceedings of the Conference on the Teaching of Engineering Design held at Scarborough between 13 and April 1966:
    • I used to place architects on a higher level, well above someone like me who works with his hands and gets mud on his boots. 2001, Stephen S. Saucerman, Moving to Commercial Construction, page 96: