On the front burner / on the back burner

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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Hi,

Are these expressions (on the front burner / on the back burner) used by native speakers or considered old-fasshioned ones?
I found this one in the Sunday Times , but it’s from 2006

He said that bullying is an ‘enormous problem’ and he is keen for it to be ‘on the front burner’.

Thank you.

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Yes, both expressions “on the front burner” and “on the back burner” are still used by native speakers and are not considered old-fashioned. They remain common in both spoken and written English, especially in the context of prioritizing tasks or issues.

  • On the front burner means that something is receiving immediate and high priority attention.
  • On the back burner refers to something that has lower priority and is being postponed or given less immediate focus.

The quote from the Sunday Times you found is a great example of how these phrases are used naturally. You’ll still see or hear them in business discussions, political conversations, and even casual settings.

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Thanks, Torsten.

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I partly agree with Tolsten, but not entirely. The average person rarely uses this idiom, if ever. As Torsten mentioned, it’s more likely to be used in business or political settings.

I think the average person is more likely to use this in a literal sense, meaning the front or back burner of a stove.

I know what the idiom means, but I have never used it myself. I don’t know if I have personally heard anyone else use it either.

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NearlyNapping, so, it all depends on the country the person comes from?

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Maybe. It could even be regional here in the US. Unfortunately we no longer have any British speakers on this site. It might even be different in Canada or Australia.

Professional writers are more creative, and tend to use a lot of language that the average person doesn’t use. This goes for newspapers, book, movies, TV, etc.

@Arinker might pop in and give his opinion on this.

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I’ve definitely heard it and I believe everyone would understand it. I think the “back burner” part is more common, meaning “let’s put this aside for now”.
I think that from time to time there are other sayings based on the “modern“ management idea of the month. I’ve heard people talk about putting an issue “in the parking lot”. But I don’t think that “put this on the back burner” ever goes away. It’s just such a nice descriptive phrase.

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OK, thank you all guys!

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