English term
It comes on the heels
NY Times - May 11st, 2005
What does "It comes on the heels" mean here? In Cambridge Dictionary I only found the following:
1) under sb's heel (formal)
if you are under someone's heel, they have complete control over you
Example: For nine years this isolated community lived under the heel of China.
http://www.dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=heel*3 0&...
2)come to heel
If a person or organization comes to heel, they agree to obey, usually because they have been forcefully persuaded to do so.
| 4 +6 | follows immediately or in quick succession |
Balasubramaniam L.
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| 5 +11 | it comes soon after |
Nick Lingris
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| 4 +6 | it follows |
Konstantin Kisin
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May 12, 2005 11:58: Nick Lingris changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"
PRO (2): Konstantin Kisin, Nick Lingris
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Responses
India
Fast, accurate, elegant translation
Native in: Hindi 
Works in: English to Hindi, Hindi
follows immediately or in quick succession
This one "comes on the heels of" means, follows immediately or in quick succession.
The imagery is quite suggestive. It is almost as if the two events are walking in single file with the one following almost stepping on the heels of the one in front of it in its hurry to get ahead!
United Kingdom
Bilingual Finance, Law & Business Pro
Native in: English 
, Russian
Works in: Russian to English, English, English to Russian
it follows
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Note added at 1 min (2005-05-12 11:58:18 GMT)
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It follows some embarrasing...
It comes after some...
etc
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Refugio
: The expression is "to come on the heels of". The parenthetical 'however' between commas makes this fact a little confusing.
2 mins
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yep, the problem is caused by the poor source text :)
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Nick Lingris
: Sorry, I wasn't that 'subito' after all.
2 mins
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:)))
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John Bowden
: To come/happen very soon after something
6 mins
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indeed!
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Maria Nicholas (X)
9 mins
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| agree |
Robert Donahue (X)
: As Ruth says, you need the "of", otherwise it's confusifying. ;-)
14 mins
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yeah, it's just wrong, but the meaning is still clear in this case
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airmailrpl
: -
3 hrs
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United Kingdom
The word is my oyster
Native in: Greek
Works in: English to Greek, Greek to English, Greek
it comes soon after
| agree |
Refugio
1 min
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Thank you, Ruth.
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| agree |
Arcoiris
: I think "soon after" is important
7 mins
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OK, let's see how many linguists we have here who will appreciate the fact that I have "soon" in my version :-)
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Robert Donahue (X)
: Soon, as in stepping on the heels of. I like me some nuance as much as the next guy. :-)
14 mins
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And here is Robert adding the explanation of the imagery to my entry too. Don't you love the interactivity of the whole thing?
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Tony M
: Yep, it's that "soon" that got me...
50 mins
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Thought it would...
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paolamonaco
: happening soon after another event (Macmillan English Dictionary)
2 hrs
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Thanks, Paoletta.
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| agree |
rangepost
2 hrs
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Thank you
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daliasalah
2 hrs
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Thank you.
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| agree |
airmailrpl
: -
3 hrs
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Thank you.
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| agree |
Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.
3 hrs
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Thank you.
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| agree |
Vicky Papaprodromou
4 hrs
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Íá 'óáé êáëÜ, êüñç ìïõ.
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| agree |
Alfa Trans (X)
1 day 21 mins
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