Back when I was “just a growing boy” I would sometimes put more food on my plate than I could eat without making a pig of myself, and having to wabble from the table to the couch. My dear Mama would tell me that my “eyes were bigger than my stomach.”

She hit me with things like there are starving children in some countries who would gladly eat what I was trying to leave behind. She started making me “clean my plate,” which soon broke me from taking out too much. I learned how to decide what was a reasonable portion of each dish to satisfy my hunger.

This figurative expression is obviously used to chastise someone who seems to be doing what I was doing. Also, it may be used as an afterthought, even as an excuse, when one has taken food and left it on his or her plate when exiting the table. Not surprisingly, it is also used in other cultures and languages in which leaving food on the plate is viewed negatively. When I was on a convention trip to Beijing, China in 2006, I was told about a man who took out a lot of food on a buffet and left some on his plate. The owner of the restaurant brusquely scolded him and fined him, not wanting him to leave until the fine was paid. The customer was an American and did not understand Mandarin, so another gentleman had to translate. He was able to convince the Chinaman that the customer was full, and unable to eat the rest, and was totally unaware of his policy to fine those who left food on their plates.

The adage has been around for about 200 years in English. The earliest available citation is from The New Sporting Magazine, July 1833 in ‘A Trip to Paris with Mr. Jorrocks’:

      “Oh, your eyes are bigger than your stomach, Mr. J….”

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