dance attendance (up)on (someone)
(redirected from dance attendance upon someone)dance attendance (up)on (someone)
To perform assiduously and obsequiously any task required or requested by someone. After earning his fortune, he now has servants constantly dancing attendance on him. He's always dancing attendance upon us so that we'll let him hang out with us.
See also: attendance, dance
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
dance attendance on
Wait on attentively and obsequiously, obey someone's every wish or whim. For example, He expected his secretary to dance attendance on him so she quit her job. This expression alludes to the old custom of making a bride dance with every wedding guest. In the 1500s it was used first to mean "await" an audience with someone, but by about 1600 it had acquired its present meaning. Also see at someone's beck and call.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
dance attendance on
do your utmost to please someone by attending to all their needs or requests.The expression originally referred to someone waiting ‘kicking their heels’ until an important person summoned them or would see them.
1999 Shyama Perera I Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet Tammy and I sat on a vinyl bench seat and watched the visiting flow while Jan disappeared to dance attendance on her mother.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
ˌdance atˈtendance on somebody
(British English, formal) do a lot of small jobs in order to please somebody: She always has an assistant dancing attendance on her.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
dance attendance on
To attend to or try to please (someone) with eagerness or obsequiousness.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.