/ə ˈlɒt ɒn jɔː ˈpleɪt/
English idiom, everyday. To have a lot of work or problems to deal with at once.
Draft Not yet checked by a native English speaker.
How do people use A lot on your plate
?
Everyday English, fine at work and at home. It usually follows “have” or “have got”: “I’ve got a lot on my plate right now”, “she has a lot on her plate”. People say it to explain why they can’t take on more, or kindly about someone else (“I know you have a lot on your plate”).
Also said have a lot on one’s plate, have too much on one’s plate, have enough on one’s plate
A lot on your plate
in real sentences
-
I have a lot on my plate.
Tatoeba, sentence by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
-
Sorry, I’ve got a lot on my plate right now.
Tatoeba, sentence by DJ_Saidez, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does A lot on your plate
come from?
English Wiktionary explains it as the obvious metaphor: your tasks are a pile of food waiting to be eaten, and the more there is, the longer it takes to clear. It gives no date for the first figurative use, and its oldest quotation is from a 2007 novel, which is certainly not the first. I found no reliable record of when it started.
Mistakes learners make with A lot on your plate
Saying “in my plate”. Some languages put food in the plate, but in English everything sits on it, the jobs and worries included.
Other English idioms like A lot on your plate
Spot a mistake in A lot on your plate
?
Send a correction, or a sentence you’d actually say with it. Everything is read before anything on this page changes.