avoir sur les bras
Meaning: To be burdened with or responsible for someone or something; to be occupied with a demanding task or person.
Language: French
Literally: to have on one's arms
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: The image is of literally carrying something heavy in one's arms—a burden one must hold and manage.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- ne s’être pas regardé — to judge others harshly while being blind to one's own equal or greater faults.
- ne pas en croire ses oreilles — To be startled or disbelieving upon hearing something astonishing.
- se composer le visage — To adopt a serious or carefully studied expression suited to the circumstances.
- être de mauvais poil — To be in a bad mood or irritable disposition.
- se casser la figure — To fall to the ground; to have an accident or suffer a collapse.
- joindre le geste à la parole — To back up what you say with action; to keep your promises.
More French idioms
- recoller les morceaux — to repair a broken relationship or reconcile after a quarrel.
- brûler ses dernières cartouches — to exhaust one's final resources or use one's last arguments in desperation.
- ne pas tourner rond — to be unwell or not functioning properly.
- passer un mauvais quart d’heure — to experience a brief but unpleasant or distressing moment.
- envoyer des piques — To make cutting or barbed remarks intended to irritate or provoke someone.
- prendre le maquis — To go into hiding or join a resistance movement to escape authority or persecution.