have other fish to fry

English

Verb

have other fish to fry

1. To have more important things to do.
   • c. 1710 Jonathan Swift, The Journal to Stella, ch. 2, Letter 15:

     I have other fish to fry; so good-morrow, my ladies all, good-morrow.

   • 1849, Charlotte Brontë, chapter 20, in Shirley:

     Your uncle will not return yet; he has other fish to fry; he will be galloping backwards and forwards from Briarfield to Stilbro' all day.

   • 1905, George Bernard Shaw, chapter 15, in The Irrational Knot:

     "May I ask whether you will be persuaded to come?"

     "No, for certain. I have other fish to fry here."

Translations

to have more important things to do

• Finnish: olla parempaakin tekemistä (subject in adessive), olla muutakin tekemistä (subject in adessive)
• French: avoir d’autres chats à fouetter (fr)
• German: haben andere Igel zu kämmen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: avere altre gatte da pelare