U.S. and Colonial. Pl. -foots, -feet. [f. tender foot: see quot. 18871] A name given, originally in the ranching and mining regions of the western U.S., to a newly arrived immigrant, unused to the hardships of pioneer life; a greenhorn; hence, a raw, inexperienced person.
1881. L. P. Brockett, West. Empire, I. vii. (1882), 72 (Funk). Slang expressions of this mining dialect…. New-comers are ‘Tender-feet.’
1887. L. Swinburne, in Scribner’s Mag., II. 508. ‘Pilgrim’ and ‘tenderfoot’ were formerly applied almost exclusively to newly imported cattle.
1887. Q. Rev., July, 49. British ‘tenderfeet’ were induced to invest a great deal of cattle in the business.
1891. Pall Mall G., 4 Jan., 2/1. Wailings of inexperienced men and ‘tender foots.’
b. attrib. or as adj.
1888. San Francisco Wkly. Bulletin (Farmer, Dict. Amer.). The boys were of the tenderfoot kind.
1897. Daily News, 30 July, 7/1. Most of the best claims have already been secured by tenderfoot prospectors.
1900. O. Wister, Virginian, ii. In my tenderfoot innocence I was looking indoors for the washing arrangements.
