Meaning:
The person desires more than he can handle, usually with reference to food
Background:
Many variations on this expression exist. The earliest recorded variation is from
George Herbert's Jacula Prudentum (1651): "The eye is bigger than the belly".
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A thrill to learn that Chinese and English chose the same set of organs to
express the same idea. I can understand young people biting more than they could
chew but an older person should behave according to thier age and supposed
wisdom.