Step foot in

[TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross]

Seeing it more and more in common usage and it's starting to really annoy me.

Apparently, it's in the OED, and usage can be traced back to the 1500s, but I still think it sounds incorrect. To me, it seems to be rooted in a mishearing of "set foot" but is now steadily gaining ground.

It irritates me as much as "you've got another thing coming".

Why does it annoy you so much?

"Set foot" is a bit of an opaque phrase (how do you set your foot?), so it's not surprising that it gets misheard. I didn't know that "step foot" has a long history, but it's got some logic to it (how do you make a footstep? by stepping your foot).

If I see or hear "step foot", I'm going to be intrigued rather than annoyed, and wonder whether "set" or "step" will become the standard usage in years to come.

If one was waiting for another Thing to come (by Amazon, say) wouldn't that be the correct way to say it?

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles - I assume OP is referencing the construction: "If you think you're going to wear that shirt to the party, you've got another think coming".

Saying (or hearing) "another thing coming" is common and has a long history.

Ah, I understand now!

Why does it annoy me? I think because I’ve grown up reading and hearing the phrase “set foot” as in “I wouldn’t set foot in there if you paid me” and have only encountered “step foot” much more recently - and it just sounds so gratingly incorrect! As does “if you think you’re getting that, you’ve got another thing coming” - it doesn’t even make sense!