FrenchAvoir sur les bras
Meaning: To be burdened with or responsible for someone or something; to be occupied with a demanding task or person.
Literally: To have on one's arms
Example: “Avec trois chantiers en cours, elle a déjà beaucoup sur les bras.” — With three projects underway, she already has a lot on her plate.
English equivalent: To have a lot on one's plate
Equivalents in other languages
Dutch: op zijn bord krijgen Literally: To get on one's plate
English: have a lot on one's plate
Origin: What one carries in one's arms has to be held and cannot be put down. French has said it of burdensome people and business since at least the 17th century: in Molière's Les Fâcheux (1661) a master curses any servant who is sur les bras and only gets in the way, and Madame de Sévigné writes of having the government of Provence on her arms. Today it is said mostly of work, of having a lot on one's plate.
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.
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