"too much on their plate"

Posted by ESC on February 15, 2005

In Reply to: "Too much on their plate" posted by val wood on February 14, 2005

: Help - can anyone tell me when this phrase first was used?
: Thanks

It's a fairly recent "buzz phrase" in business in the U.S. But "have a lot on one's plate" must have some age on it because it is in this reference: Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable revised by Adrian Room (HarperCollinsPublishers, New York, 1999, Sixteenth Edition).

• "Too much on their plate" Smokey Stover 15/February/05
  • "Too much on their plate" ESC 15/February/05