🗓️ Idiom: Have Too Much on Your Plate (idiom)
💬 Meaning
- To have too many tasks, responsibilities, or commitments at the same time.
- To be very busy or overwhelmed with work or duties.
🧠 Example Sentences
- She’s trying to manage a full-time job, night classes, and family care — she really has too much on her plate.
- He agreed to take on another project even though he already had too much on his plate.
- When you feel stressed all the time, it might be because you have too much on your plate and need to say no more often.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom compares life’s responsibilities to food on a plate. If the plate is full, there’s no room for more. It became popular in the 20th century in American English, especially in business and daily conversation, to describe someone who is overloaded with work or obligations.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Our marketing director has __________ and needs to delegate some work.
Answer
too much on her plate
2. Choose the correct meaning:
What does “having too much on your plate” mean?
a) Eating too much food
b) Having too many tasks or responsibilities
c) Refusing to take a new opportunity
Answer
b) Having too many tasks or responsibilities
3. Change the sentence using “too much on your plate”:
“I can’t help with that report because I’m already overwhelmed with other work.”
Answer
I can’t help with that report because I already have too much on my plate.
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