leg

[bartholomew]

Not to have a leg to stand on

could you give one or two examples that best illustrate the meaning of this expression?

[woofgang]

"when I caught him in the orchard he told me that he hadn't eaten any apples, but when I found the cores in his pocket, he didn't have a leg to stand on" ie his argument or assertion doesn't stand up in the face of proof to the contrary

[rja211077]

It means to have no defence to an accusation or punishment, so 2 examples as follows: 1) David Prutton's sending off and imminent lengthy ban. Everyone saw it, it's there on video, everyone thought he deserved everything he got (and is going to get). He's not got a leg to stand on (and Robert Pires's is somewhat dodgy now too...boom boom) 2) (continuing the football theme as I'm too lazy to think of another), Jose Mourinho's gesture to the "media"...there were no media in that direction, there were plenty of Liverpool fans, he's not got a leg to stand on (apart from possibly provocation and claiming the gesture was harmless). Will that do?