Bite off more than you can chew

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Bite off more than you can chew

It means to take on more responsibility or work than you can actually handle. 

Examples:

1- I told my boss I could finish three reports by Friday, but now I’m staying up all night. I definitely bit off more than I can chew.

2- He thought learning two languages and playing in a band during his first year of college would be easy. He totally bit off more than he could chew.

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to Daily English! Today’s expression is “Bite off more than you can chew.” Once again: Bite off more than you can chew.

Can you guess what it means? Let’s look at a couple of quick clues:

Imagine someone volunteers to organize a school event, bake 100 cupcakes, and design the poster—all in one weekend. By Saturday night, they’re exhausted and behind on everything. Yep, they’ve bitten off more than they can chew.

Or think of someone who signs up for five online courses at once, thinking it’ll be fine. Two weeks later, they’re drowning in deadlines. Clearly, they’ve bitten off more than they can chew.

What does “Bite Off More Than You Can Chew” mean? It means to take on more responsibility or work than you can actually handle. You overestimate what you can do or underestimate how much work it really is.

It’s based on a simple image: if you put too much food in your mouth, you can’t chew it all. And in life, if you take on too much, you can’t manage it all, either.

Examples:

"I told my boss I could finish three reports by Friday, but now I’m staying up all night. I definitely bit off more than I can chew."

"My friend offered to babysit three toddlers and a puppy at the same time. Five hours later, she was texting me for help. She’d bitten off more than she could chew."

"He thought learning two languages and playing in a band during his first year of college would be easy. He totally bit off more than he could chew."

Your Turn!  Have you ever bitten off more than you could chew? Maybe with work, school, or even planning a big event? I’d love to hear your story. What did you learn from it?