"too much on their plate"
Posted by ESC on February 15, 2005
In Reply to: "Too much on their plate" posted by Smokey Stover on February 15, 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).
: On one's plate, figuratively used. One can have "enough on my plate," meaning all I can handle, or "too much" or just "a lot." The latter is cited by the OED from 1928. SS
Here is what I'm tired of hearing: "What do you have on your plate today?" Meaning - what's on your workday schedule.