where does the phrase to get cold feet come from
Cold feet
The origin of the term itself has been largely attributed to American author Stephen Crane , who added the phrase , in 1896 , to the second edition of his short novel , Maggie : A Girl of the Streets . Crane writes , `` I knew this was the way it would be . They got cold feet . '' The term is present in `` Seed Time and Harvest '' by Fritz Reuter published in 1862 . Kenneth McKenzie , a former professor of Italian at Princeton University attributed the first use of the phrase to the play Volpone produced by Ben Jonson in 1605 . The true origin and first usage of the phrase remains debated and unconfirmed as exemplified above . 
The origin of the term itself has been largely attributed to American author Stephen Crane , who added the phrase , in 1896 , to the second edition of his short novel , Maggie : A Girl of the Streets . Crane writes , `` I knew this was the way it would be . They got cold feet . '' The term is present in `` Seed Time and Harvest '' by Fritz Reuter published in 1862 . Kenneth McKenzie , a former professor of Italian at Princeton University attributed the first use of the phrase to the play Volpone produced by Ben Jonson in 1605 . The true origin and first usage of the phrase remains debated and unconfirmed as exemplified above .
The origin of the term itself has been largely attributed to American author Stephen Crane, who added the phrase in 1896 to the second edition of his short novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets.
However, the true origin and first usage of the phrase remains debated and unconfirmed.
The origin of the term itself has been largely attributed to American author Stephen Crane , who added the phrase , in 1896 , to the second edition of his short novel , Maggie : A Girl of the Streets . The true origin and first usage of the phrase remains debated and unconfirmed as exemplified above .