Another similar phrase: four-square, meaning 'completely'. As in, 'I stand four-square behind the proposition'.
Posted by aldiboronti at December 24, 2006 04:04 PMOne commentator chez Liberman wrote of the use of the expression among philosophers:
one problem was said to be "down on all fours" with another.
I don't use the expression myself, but I have heard other philosophers in Australia use it – only in the form "A is on all fours with B", meaning (if I have it right) that A and B are in some salient way congruent, isomorphic, or in accord. Whether or how this fits with the origins of the expression I have no idea.
Interesting to see such uses of the plural fours. Why not He was down on all four looking for a contact lens?
Excitement! I heard "on all fours with" meaning "congruent with" for the very first time this weekend. (From an east-coast lawyer, in a non-business context.)
Posted by rameau at January 1, 2007 10:28 PMMyself, I immediately pictured neatly stacked tables. The example of "four-square" slightly ups the chances that the image isn't completely eccentric.
(Dumb on me -- I shoulda read the referenced link first!)
Posted by Ray Davis at January 2, 2007 02:23 PMMight have something to do with being steady.
A stand-stay is a very hard thing to teach a dog. Horses are not especially fond of standing still on all four legs. If they're resting, the'll cock a hoof, if they're not, the'll be moving. Especially if you are trying to look them over...but that's a WAG.