put something on the back burner
Meaning: To decrease the amount of energy spent on some activity; to delay or postpone action on some activity.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: The expression on the back burner comes from cooking on a standard stove, which has four burners, two in front and two in back. The burners in front are used for immediate cooking, while the ones in back are often used for simmering or keeping things warm. To move something to the front burner means to make some project highest priority.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- on the nose — Exactly.
- on the tip of one's tongue — Almost remembered; about to be said.
- pay someone back — To respond to somebody's behavior with similar behavior.
- pay through the nose — To pay a great amount; to pay too much.
- pick someone's brain — To get information from someone, usually by questioning the person carefully and in great…
- play it by ear — To go along with a situation as it develops before deciding what to do; to do something w…
More English idioms
- poker face — An expressionless face; a face that reveals nothing of one's feelings or thoughts.
- put one's best foot forward — To try to make the best possible impression.
- put one's finger on it — To identify or understand something properly.
- put one's foot down — To be firm and unyielding about something.
- put one's money where one's mouth is — To support what one is saying by risking or spending money (sentences 1 and 2); to demons…
- rack one's brain — To search through one's mind intensively; to try very hard to think of something.
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