{
  "id": "walking-on-eggshells.threshold",
  "term": "walking on eggshells",
  "sense": "threshold",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 20,
  "domain": "bonds and their maintenance",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "a bond whose safety parameter sits at the wall of its window, leaving only a narrow margin that maintenance must constantly keep within, so each interaction risks crossing the wall and breaking the bond.",
  "folk_gloss": "being overly careful in a fragile relationship",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "window.range",
      "wall.range-end",
      "parameter.condition",
      "maintenance.upkeep",
      "connection.social"
    ],
    "interaction": "the safety parameter drifts toward the wall while maintenance works to keep the connection within the window",
    "novel_properties": [
      "barely positive safety margin"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "walk on eggshells",
    "walking on eggshells"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:openai/gpt-oss-120b",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — bonds and their maintenance"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-walking-on-eggshells.threshold"
}