play footsie
idiom

- To work with someone secretly, especially when this is considered wrong

- covertly work with or help someone, often in a way that is wrong or sneaky

- touch someone's feet lightly with one's own feet, especially under a table, as a playful expression of romantic interest

Oxford Languages, Merriam-Webster 

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UNDER THE TABLE

"Playing footsie" originated in American English in the early 20th century, initially describing the literal act of surreptitiously touching someone's foot with your own under a table. This flirtatious gesture was conducted in secret while maintaining an innocent appearance in public.

The phrase first appeared in print around the 1930s-1940s, coinciding with the era when more formal social settings (dinner parties, restaurant dining, business lunches) became common middle-class activities. The gesture required both proximity and concealment: participants sat across from each other at a table that hid their feet from view, allowing romantic or playful contact while their upper bodies maintained proper decorum.

By the 1950s, the expression had developed its figurative meaning of covert cooperation or collusion, particularly in political and business contexts. This figurative shift made sense because the metaphor captured the essence of appearing proper publicly while engaging in secret activities underneath—exactly what happens in cases of corruption, regulatory capture, or backdoor dealing.

The phrase's staying power comes from its vivid imagery. Just as literal footsie involves maintaining a straight face while something questionable happens out of sight, figurative footsie describes partnerships that cannot withstand public scrutiny. The expression conveys not just secrecy but also the slightly ridiculous, undignified nature of the deception. The metaphor works because both versions—romantic and corrupt—involve the same miscalculation: assuming no one notices what’s happening underneath.

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

back-channeling, colluding, conniving with, cooking up deals, covert cooperation, cozying up to, cutting deals behind closed doors, discreet collaboration, doing favours under the radar, double-dealing, forming tacit agreements, greasing palms together, hand in glove with, having gentleman's agreements (private arrangements, unholy alliances), in bed with, in cahoots with, in league with, keeping it hush-hush (things quiet together), looking the other way for each other, maintaining backroom ties, making backroom deals (secret pacts, side deals), operating in the shadows (off the books), playing both sides, PLAYING FOOTSIES, rubbing elbows with, running parallel agendas, scheming, scratching each other's backs, secret dealing, surreptitious cooperation, trading favours, under-the-table cooperation, unofficial alliances, wheeling and dealing, winking and nodding, working behind the scenes, working hand in hand (in the shadows, the back channels, under the table)

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation today, say something like:

"These days, spotting who's PLAYING FOOTSIES with whom in international politics doesn't require much imagination."

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