English, baby!

on my shoulders

Date: Sep 14 2006

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

I wanted to be a part of an ensemble cast… That way I didn’t have the pressure of the whole movie on my shoulders.

Jessica Simpson, talking about working with the cast on her upcoming movie, Employee of the Month.

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

when something is entirely my responsibility; having to be accountable when something goes wrong

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

Jessica Simpson is saying that she wants to share the responsibility of the movie with other people. She doesn’t want to be solely responsible. She doesn’t want the entire project to be judged on just her performance.

People usually use this expression when they are under a lot of pressure. Having something on your shoulders means that something is weighing you down. It implies that you are worried or anxious.

For example, if you are the editor of a magazine, and the magazine fails, it’s on your shoulders.

If surgery is someone’s last hope for survival, then it’s on the surgeon’s shoulders to succeed.

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

“I’m going to hire a wedding planner. I don’t want to have the whole thing on my shoulders. I just want to enjoy getting married.”

“Right now I’m in school full time and working full time. On top of that, my boyfriend just broke up with me, and I have to move. I have a lot on my shoulders right now.”

“If this deal falls through, it’s all on my shoulders.”

“We need to hire another person. There’s just too much on my shoulders.”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

	it means something that's not physical, but it seems like really exist around you, even though you don't see it and touch it. by s-amurai
	I think "on my shoulders" here means taking responsible by oneself and feelling pressure by benyuamu
	one would take on something by himself. by pfpuff
	Jessica means that she is not only responsible for the whole movie because there are people who will always help her :) by Lucy30
	she wanted someone else to share her pressure and live an easy life. by leigh7615
	It means "on my exclusive responsibility" by il teachesseur
	it means to have the pressure of people's expectations on you by leonelamk
	to be responsible for it by Y.Furu
	under my responsibility by eugefavilla
	"...on my shouders" is that she doesn't want to perform a task requiring a lot of effort alone. She wants the other actors or actresses sharing responsibily with her. by thuhuong
	on my responsibilities,on my burden by kai_ng1
	to have something on one's shoulders means to have the whole responsability on doing or dealing with that. by vanja
	:) by em21
	I think it means there is something she is about to do and should be responsible for it by shasha4132
	take the responsibility by myself by lawrence2004