to get your priorities straight
5
4.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
organizar tus prioridades
- Please get your priorities straight and lobby for more humane conditions for us, such as adequate texts and materials.
- need to get your priorities straight
And if it isn't, dude, you need to get your priorities straight.
- And if it isn't, dude, you need to get your priorities straight.
- So that kind of eye opener, you know, that changes things in a hurry and you get your priorities straight in a hurry.
Examples
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You better get your priorities straight.
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You need to get your priorities straight if you want to succeed in this project.
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You need to get your priorities straight.
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I think for the first time in my life, I am getting my priorities straight.
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Come on, get your priorities straight!
Blog text (25) -
Parents who don't have time to feed their children need to get their priorities straight.
Blog text (21) -
I don't have children yet, but I'm well aware it's our responsibility to make sure they get their priorities straight.
Blog text (10) -
Americans just need to get their priorities straight and realize that they may not be able to buy the newest iPhone or big screen TV as soon as it comes out.
Blog text (26) -
Get your priorities straight.
Blog text (28) -
After reflecting on my goals, I finally decided to get my priorities straight.
Synonyms
77
4.1
Deal with the most important tasks first
14
4.3
Think about how important something is compared to other things
How Focused
Surface Forms
Morphology
get + your + priority + straight
The overall sense — to put or recognize what is most important — is largely compositional from 'get' (understand/put), 'priorities' (things of importance) and 'straight' (here meaning 'in order' or 'correct'), and many languages express the same logic, so learners can often infer it. However, the use of 'get X straight' and the specific sense of 'straight' as 'in order/clear/correct' is somewhat idiomatic and may not be predictable for a B1 learner who only knows the basic senses of the words.
Etymology
The phrase get your priorities straight comes from the image of lining up your tasks so the most important ones are first. If you make your priorities straight, the top items are clear, so you can 'decide what is most important' and focus on them.