shake a leg
1
said as a way of asking someone to begin doing something or continue doing it faster than before
The idiom "shake a leg" originated in the early 19th century among sailors. In the cramped quarters of a ship, hammocks were used as beds, and when it was time to wake up, sailors would "shake a leg" to swing their legs out of the hammock and begin their day.
- Come on, shake a leg, we don't want to be late for the movie.
- Tomorrow morning, we'll need to shake a leg to catch our flight on time.
- By the time they arrived, we had already shaken a leg and started the meeting.
- Whenever we were running late, she would always tell us to shake a leg and move faster.