I have eggs on the spit
Preserved but no longer current.
I am very busy, and cannot attend to anything else. The reference is to roasting eggs on a spit. They were first boiled, then the yolk was taken out, braided up with spices, and put back again; the eggs were then drawn on a spit, and roasted. As this required both dispatch and constant attention, the person in charge could not leave them.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “I have eggs on the spit” mean?
I am very busy, and cannot attend to anything else. The reference is to roasting eggs on a spit. They were first boiled, then the yolk was taken out, braided up with spices, and put back again; the eggs were then drawn on a spit, and roasted. As this required both dispatch and constant attention, the person in charge could not leave them.
Is “I have eggs on the spit” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.