Example: J'ai d'autres chats à fouetter que de m'occuper de ça maintenant.
Definition
"Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter" is a French expression meaning to have other, more important matters to attend to. It is used to indicate that someone is too busy or preoccupied with more pressing issues than the current topic or task.
Translations
To have more important things to do
Tener cosas más importantes que hacer
Wel wat anders aan je hoofd hebben
Tenir altres coses a fer
Wichtigeres zu tun haben
Etymology
The phrase "avoir d'autres chats à fouetter" literally translates to "to have other cats to whip." It originates from a time when whipping cats was a metaphor for dealing with troublesome or annoying tasks. The expression humorously conveys that one has more urgent problems to handle, rather than wasting time on less significant ones.
Learn to use this expression actively
"Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter" appears in the Vocaplus list "", containing 105 commonly used expressions.
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To have more important things to do