footing vs shortcut

footing

noun
  • A footprint or footprints; tracks, someone's trail. 

  • Stability or balance when standing on one's feet. 

  • The thickened or sloping portion of a wall, or of an embankment at its foot; foundation. 

  • A narrow cotton lace, without figures. 

  • The finer refuse part of whale blubber, not wholly deprived of oil. 

  • The act of putting a foot to anything; also, that which is added as a foot 

  • The act of adding up a column of figures; the amount or sum total of such a column. 

  • A double-check of the numbers vertically. 

  • A ground for the foot; place for the foot to rest on; firm foundation to stand on. 

  • A standing; position; established place; foothold. 

  • A relative condition; state. 

shortcut

noun
  • A path between two points that is faster than the commonly used paths. 

  • A keyboard shortcut: a combination of keystrokes that provides easier access to a command or operation. 

  • A method to accomplish something that omits one or more steps. 

  • A file that points to the location of another file and serves as a quick way to access it. 

verb
  • To take or use a shortcut 

How often have the words footing and shortcut occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )