Quite a few idioms use the idea of walking. They’re frequently used but aren’t to be taken literally. These are some of my favourites.
Walk back
Meaning: change your mind or concede that you made a mistake.
It often has a negative connotation of distancing yourself from a decision or claim previously made. For example, ‘The company has walked back on its plans to employ only ducks’ means that the company had previously announced that all of its staff would be ducks, but has now cancelled or changed that policy.
Origin: uncertain. The earliest known use in writing in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is from 1945.
Walk on eggshells
Meaning: take care to avoid giving offence or upset. The metaphor is of trying to walk on eggshells without breaking them.
It often has a negative or judgemental connotation implying that the effort is excessive. For example, ‘It would have been a good weekend if we hadn’t had to walk on eggshells around him’ means that a weekend was marred by the need to be careful around one participant, but depending on the context (eg tone in which it’s said) it may imply that the speaker/writer didn’t agree that care was needed or felt that the effort was ridiculous. This might come up in family situations, for example: ‘I know his gran can be judgemental, but it’s such a strain always having to walk on eggshells around her to avoid accidentally outing him; I wish he’d just tell her.’
Origin: there’s little consensus on the origin. According to Christine Ammer’s Clichés: The Facts on File, the phrase dates to the late 16th century, and Ammer gives an early example in writing from 1621: ‘going as if he trod upon eggs’. The OED’s first known use in writing comes from an 1860 novel by Wilkie Collins.
Walk away
Meaning: disengage from a situation.
It can be used in a wide range of contexts and with implications ranging from giving up worrying about something to ending a legal relationship. For example, ‘The meeting started off well enough, but then people started arguing and it got too much for me so I walked away’ might mean that the speaker or writer stayed in the meeting but stopped paying attention (mentally ‘walking away’) or might mean that they literally left the meeting. Context will probably make it clear which is meant, but if you’re not certain it’s okay to ask for clarification (we all need to do this sometimes): ‘do you mean you stopped listening or you actually left the meeting?’
The phrase is also often used with an implication of judgement about ‘throwing away’ something valuable: for example, ‘you used to love that job – don’t walk away just because of a rocky few months’ implies that the speaker thinks it’s not worth resigning over the current situation (but note that the speaker may be wrong: I’m trying to help you understand what they mean, but am not commenting on whether they’re giving good advice!).
Origin: uncertain. The earliest written example in the OED dates to 1936.
Walk a mile in someone’s shoes
Meaning: see someone else’s perspective. It often carries an implication of needing to empathise with someone’s position before judging them. Variations include ‘put yourself in their shoes’.
Origin: uncertain. It’s sometimes attributed to a poem, but I didn’t find a definite connection.
Walk in the park
Meaning: easy. ‘It’ll be a walk in the park’ means you’re expecting something to be effortless.
Origin: uncertain. Christine Ammer says it dates to the 20th century, but doesn’t mention its origin (Clichés: The Facts on File). The OED says it originated in the US, with the first known use in writing dating to 1937.
Walk tall
Meaning: take pride in your achievement. For example, ‘That’s a fantastic exam result – congratulations. You can really walk tall now.’
Origin: Christine Ammer says it’s a 20th century Americanism, and says it gained popularity after the 1973 film Walking Tall. Ammer does acknowledge that it was also in use in the UK, however, including a use in the Manchester Guardian in 1970.
However, although the OED doesn’t comment on the origin of ‘walk tall’, it quotes an 1846 text as the first known use in writing – so wherever it came from, it was in use before the 20th century.