upon the tapis
- idiom
- Archaic
:
en discusión
- The matter of the budget was upon the tapis at yesterday's council meeting.
Examples
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Many pressing issues were upon the tapis during the recent session.
-
The proposal is now upon the tapis for discussion.
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A proposal to renovate the library is once again upon the tapis.
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Is the new policy still upon the tapis?
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The matter of the budget was upon the tapis at yesterday's council meeting.
-
A proposal to renovate the library is once again upon the tapis.
-
Many pressing issues were upon the tapis during the recent session.
Antonyms
How Considered
Surface Forms
Morphology
upon + the + tapis
The phrase literally combines 'upon' (on) with the rare/archaic loanword 'tapis' (originally a French word for carpet/table), so the literal meaning is 'on the tapis' rather than 'under consideration.' The conventional sense 'under consideration' is a fixed, literary idiom that cannot be predicted from the constituents by a B1 learner—even one who knows 'tapis'—so it requires prior idiomatic knowledge.
Etymology
Upon the tapis comes from old French, where tapis meant a cloth or carpet placed on a table. When papers or issues were put 'upon the tapis' they were shown for everyone to discuss, so today upon the tapis means 'under consideration'.