What Does ON THE BACK BURNER Mean?

This video answers the question: What Does ON THE BACK BURNER mean? It also shows this idiom in a sentence and explains how to use this expression in the most common contexts.

Here is a transcript of the video:

Slide 2:
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Slide 3:
The meaning of ON THE BACK BURNER:

make something low priority
postpone or suspend something
something that will not receive immediate attention

Note: The phrase comes from a chef’s method of putting pans on a back burner on a cooker top to focus on other pans that require immediate attention.

The clipart shows a saucepan on the back burner of a cooker with a chef looking over it.

Let’s now consider examples of ON THE BACK BURNER . . .

Slide 4:
The picture shows an untidy desk with piles of papers and books.

Sentence example: Since he started working on the new project, filing and keeping things tidy have gone on the back burner!

Slide 5:
In the picture we see a young woman happy to be with her parents.

Sentence example: When both her parents got sick, she decided to put her career on the back burner and give them priority.

Slide 6:
Finally, the picture shows a group of demonstrators sitting in the road.

Sentence example: With so many other crises around the world, demonstrators were worried that environmental issues would be put on the back burner.

Slide 7:
So remember these common collocations:

“put on the back burner”
“put it on the back burner”

Slide 8:
So, if you want to indicate that you have had to make something a lower priority because of more urgent tasks, just say: “Unfortunately I’ve had to put it on the back burner.”

Slide 9:
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Image Credits

Slide 4 – messy desk
Creative commons
Courtesy doctor_bob
https://morguefile.com/p/55386

Slide 5 – girl with parents
Public Domain
https://flic.kr/p/M7sQk1

Slide 6 – demonstrators
Creative Commons
https://flic.kr/p/2neoo3w

Regarding the use of illustrations and photographs used in this video:

Creative Commons Attribution Licence
Others are allowed to copy, distribute, display, and perform copyrighted work – and derivative works based upon it if they give credit to the creator or source.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Public Domain
Public domain works are not restricted by copyright and do not require a license or fee to use. Public domain status allows the user unrestricted access and unlimited creativity. These are typically very old works.

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