stand on someone's shoulders

English

Etymology

Generalization of stand on the shoulders of giants.

Verb

stand on someone's shoulders (third-person singular simple present stands on someone's shoulders, present participle standing on someone's shoulders, simple past and past participle stood on someone's shoulders)

1. (idiomatic) To build on the previous discoveries or creativity of someone.
   • 2012, Andrew J. Schatkin, chapter 4, in Essays on the Christian Worldview and Others Political, Literary, and Philosophical, page 107:

     What then can we say of the relevance of Classical languages and literature, Greek and Latin; what reason can we offer for the study of long dead languages. The answer is much in every way. For better or worse, we stand on the shoulders of the ancients, if not at their feet.

   • 2020, Jimmy McJamerson Ph.D., On the Shoulders of Our Ancestors: African American History Through Historical Poetic Verse:

     On this day, as the world watches your sojourn here, / I ask with simple courtesy, “Have you looked within yourself?” / If you had, then you would know who you are / and that you stand on the shoulders of all your ancestors / who have prepared the path for your journey. / Look within, and then look forward. […]