Why does 腰抜け mean coward?


Why does 腰抜け mean coward?

I see 腰 (waist) + 抜 (missing/losing) = 腰抜け (coward), but I fail to see how
they add up.




Looking at the [Daijisen
definition](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E8%85%B0%E6%8A%9C%E3%81%91&dtype=0&dname=0na&stype=0&pagenum=1&index=06536900),
it seems to mean in the first definition "losing the strength of the
back/waist and becoming unable to stand", and probably from that in the second
definition "lacking guts"/"coward".

I would say from this that `腰抜け` might be very close to the English
expressions ["spineless"](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/spineless),
["no spine"](http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/no+spine.html),
"lacking spine" etc for a similar reason.




Looking at the [Daijisen
definition](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E8%85%B0%E6%8A%9C%E3%81%91&dtype=0&dname=0na&stype=0&pagenum=1&index=06536900),
it seems to mean in the first definition "losing the strength of the
back/waist and becoming unable to stand", and probably from that in the second
definition "lacking guts"/"coward".

I would say from this that `腰抜け` might be very close to the English
expressions ["spineless"](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/spineless),
["no spine"](http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/no+spine.html),
"lacking spine" etc for a similar reason.

