have eyes bigger than one's stomach

English

Alternative forms

• have eyes bigger than one's belly (less common)
• one's eyes are bigger than one's stomach

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Verb

have eyes bigger than one's stomach (third-person singular simple present has eyes bigger than one's stomach, present participle having eyes bigger than one's stomach, simple past and past participle had eyes bigger than one's stomach)

1. (idiomatic) To take more food on one's plate than one can eat; to be greedy.

   He has eyes bigger than his stomach.

   You have eyes bigger than your stomach.

2. (idiomatic) To want more than one can handle.
   • 2010, Veechi Curtis, Lynley Averis, Bookkeeping For Dummies‎^[1], page 75:

     When choosing software, don't have eyes bigger than your stomach. Rather, stick to whatever level of software you need, and no more.

Translations

take more food than one can eat

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 眼大肚子小 (yǎn dà dùzi xiǎo), 眼饞肚飽／眼馋肚饱 (zh) (yǎnchándùbǎo)

• Dutch: ogen groter dan je maag hebben
• Finnish: olla isommat silmät kuin vatsa
• French: avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre (fr)
• German: die Augen sind größer als der Magen (literally “the eyes are bigger than the stomach”)
• Hungarian: nagyobb a szeme, mint a szája (hu) (literally “his/her eyes are bigger than his/her mouth”); (also with gyomra, stomach, instead of szája, mouth)
• Italian: avere gli occhi più grandi dello stomaco
• Maltese: għandu għajnejh akbar minn żaqqu
• Norwegian: øynene er større enn magen, magen blir fortere mett enn øynene (literally “the stomach loses its appetite before the eyes do”)
• Polish: wziąć za dużo jedzenia pf
• Portuguese: ter os olhos maiores que a boca, ter mais olhos que barriga (literally “have more eyes than belly”)
• Russian: одни́ глаза́ не сы́ты (ru) (odní glazá ne sýty)
• Scottish Gaelic: is motha mo shùil na mo bhrù (literally “my eye is bigger than my stomach”)
• Serbo-Croatian: imati veće oči nego dupe (literally “have eyes bigger than one’s ass”); (also euphemistically with želudac (“stomach”) or usta (“mouth”) instead of dupe (“ass”))
• Spanish: antes se llena el cuajo que el ojo (rare)
• Ukrainian: очима все з’їв би (očyma vse zʺjiv by)
• Uzbek: ko'z qornidan ochroq
• Vietnamese: con mắt lớn hơn cái bụng, no bụng đói con mắt, mắt to hơn bụng

See also

• bite off more than one can chew
• in too deep