Transcript
Hello everyone, I hope you're doing well.
Welcome to this video where we'll look at a French expression in just a few minutes. Today, we're going to look at an expression that was requested by a subscriber.
This expression is "avoir du pain sur la planche" (to have bread on the board). You asked me what this expression means as well as where it comes from. So let's look at both together today.
"Avoir du pain sur la planche" means you have a lot of work to do, a lot of tasks to accomplish. It's the French equivalent of "having a lot on your plate." For example, if you're throwing a party, you could say: the guests are arriving in an hour and I still have "du pain sur la planche."
I need to decorate the room, bake a cake, prepare the cocktails, and do my makeup. There's still a lot left to do. I really still have "du pain sur la planche."
Here's another example to help you understand. If you've just bought a new apartment or house and there's a lot of renovation work to do, you could say: there's so much work to do to make this apartment livable and nice.
We need to redo the kitchen, knock down walls, repaint, decorate. We definitely have "du pain sur la planche."
But where does this expression come from and why is it used in French?
There are several stories behind this expression. We'll look at two together.
The first story explains that the origin of "avoir du pain sur la planche" goes back to the 19th century. Since peasants ate a lot of bread, it was essential to have sufficient reserves for the winter.
When people said they had "du pain sur la planche," it meant they had enough reserves to get by. So there's this metaphor between bread and tasks to accomplish.
It's no longer reserves of food you have, but reserves of work. So you still have many tasks to complete.
The second explanation for this expression also dates back to the same era. Judges would give bread rations to criminals who were sentenced to forced labor.
Their punishment was to work for the State - doing forced labor. So this expression could also come from that. "Avoir du pain sur la planche" - receiving bread rations foreshadowed a difficult future with very hard work.