Avoir du pain sur la planche
Meaning: To have a great deal of work ahead.
Language: French
Literally: To have bread on the board
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: The meaning inverted completely. It first meant having a stock of bread laid by and so nothing to worry about; by the 20th century it meant having the loaves still to bake. The modern sense is the opposite of the original.
More idioms — Food & Drink
- Manger son pain blanc en premier — To take the easy part at the start and leave the hard part for later.
- C'est du nanan — It is delicious — or, by extension, extremely easy.
- Un pique-nique — A meal eaten outdoors to which everyone contributes.
- Cracher dans la soupe — To disparage the thing that sustains you.
- Trempé comme une soupe — Drenched to the skin.
- Payer rubis sur l'ongle — To pay in full, immediately and to the last penny.
More French idioms
- Être médusé — To be struck dumb with astonishment.
- Motus et bouche cousue — Not a word to anyone.
- À fleur de peau — Raw and easily provoked, of emotions; or just at the surface.
- Avoir bon pied bon œil — To be in excellent shape, especially for one's age.
- Avoir le pied marin — To keep one's balance on a moving deck; to be unshaken by turbulence.
- Au pied levé — At a moment's notice, with no preparation.
From our proverbs
- Desperate cuts must have desperate cures. — Severe problems require bold, unconventional solutions, even if risky or painful.
- No longer pipe, no longer dance. — When the music stops, those dependent on it must cease their enjoyment and move forward.
- He dances well to whom fortune pipes. — Success comes easily to those blessed with favorable circumstances rather than personal e…
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