A term used to describe the action of grovelling or cowering fearfully or courteously at the
feet of someone who would want to assert their authority and superiority and
press the tongue by caressing with the lips as a sign of obedience, submission, or dominance against the bare
feet of who you are trying to gain the favor or forgiveness of.
Byzantine leader Belisarius (500-565
AD) . Belisarius "jumped from his bed", and went "face first" into the ground before the
feet of Antonina, "hands on her calves" and had kissed the "bottoms of her soles" according to the histories of Procopius.
The term is used commonly in pop culture to admit defeat in a humiliating and degrading act that conveys disdain and disrespect for the person being addressed; "I command you to kiss my boot, Superman! Let the whole word know you have become by slave" Superman #261 (1973).
With so much attention on the hygiene of
feet, especially in summer with flip flops and pedicured
feet, the insult has become "Kiss
my ass", as the ass is considered the dirtiest part of the body.
