to be on one's taps

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.

is to be always ready on one's feet, literally on one's shoes; a metaphor borrowed from the shoemaker, taps being a cant word for shoes among the fraternity.


Your editor, when times are dull, must be 'on his taps,' as the saying is. When the mail comes through and brings news enough to make things look lively, why then he must work, and cut, and paste, as though the world depended on him.--N. Y. Tribune.

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