Your Eyes are Bigger Than Your Stomach
I wanted to continue on from yesterday’s phrase, biting off more than you can chew. Your eyes are bigger than your stomach is a very similar saying. However, this phrase is mostly used in a literal way. It means that you took more food than you can eat. Your eyes told you that you could eat that much, but you can’t finish your food.
Example: I was so hungry that I ordered three meals! But my eyes were larger than my stomach and I couldn’t finish the third meal.
Occasionally you might hear this phrase in a metaphorical sense. When you say that someone eyes are bigger than their stomach, it means that they are taking on more than they are capable of.
Example: She thought she could write 3 novels by the end of the year. However, it was too much. Her eyes were larger than her stomach.
Interestingly, the oldest use of the phrase was in a metaphorical sense and it wasn’t even English. The first written use of the idioms was in 1580 by Michel de Montaigne. He was comparing curiosity and understanding:
“I am afraid that our eyes are bigger than our stomachs, and that we have more curiosity than understanding. We grasp at everything, but catch nothing except wind.”
The thing I find most interesting about this idiom is that it appears (or something similar) in many other languages around the world. Obviously, we have already touched on the equivalent French phrase, “avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre”. Also, here in Korea, 배보다 배꼽이 더 크다 translates to one’s bellybutton is larger than ones stomach. It serves a similar function but can be used more metaphorically (like biting off more than you can chew).
In Croatian-Serbian there is a phrase that translates to “Hungry Eyes”. The Spanish say, “Ti tengono più gli occhi che la panica” which translates to, ”Your eyes hold more than your belly.” . I am not sure about the Arabic phrase that translates as “enlarge your stomach”. Maybe an Arabic speaking friend can tell me how close لا تكبر بطنك is to today’s phrase. In my research, I think I found a Chinese reference that translates to, “The eyes are wider than the mouth.” But, I can’t find that source again. Perhaps someone can help with that too.
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Reference:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/229895-i-am-afraid-that-our-eyes-are-bigger-than-our#:~:text=Quotes%20%3E%20Quotable%20Quote-,%E2%80%9CI%20am%20afraid%20that%20our%20eyes%20are%20bigger%20than%20our,but%20catch%20nothing%20except%20wind.%E2%80%9D
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/256415/idiomatic-equivalent-to-arabic-dont-enlarge-your-stomach#:~:text=There%20is%20a%20phrase%20we,what%20you%20like%20for%20yourself.
https://forum.thefreedictionary.com/postst200278_have-eyes-bigger-than--one-s--stomach.aspx