What it means
To get cold feet means you suddenly lose your nerve right before doing the thing. You were all in, chatting brave, then the moment turns up and your confidence slips out the back door. People say it for weddings, big decisions, scary plans, or anything where backing out hits at the last second.
Usage examples
"I nearly got cold feet before the interview, but my mate dragged me in, said stop faffing and just have a go."
"He was all set to invest, then got cold feet at the last minute."
"She nearly signed up for the marathon but got cold feet."
"I was gonna ask her out, had the whole speech loaded, then got cold feet and started chatting about the weather like a clown."
"They'd booked the tattoo and everything, then he got cold feet outside the studio and said maybe next month, mate."
Where it comes from
The phrase is recorded in English from the late 1800s and got extra traction after it appeared in an English translation of the German novel Seed-time and Harvest by Fritz Reuter. In that use, cold feet meant a loss of courage. Since then it’s stuck as the go-to phrase for last minute nerve wobble.
Other ways to say it
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