to put one's affairs in order
6
6.2
- phrasal verb
:
poner en orden los asuntos
- As he faced a major life change, he realized it was time to put his affairs in order.
- began to put one's affairs in order
- time to put your affairs in order
- wanted to put their affairs in order
Examples
-
He had destroyed his unpublished manuscripts and given away all his other art, and had otherwise put his affairs in order, with directions that he was to be cremated and that there was to be no ceremony.
Fiction book (1994) -
You have cancer, and you'd best put your affairs in order.
Blog text (24) -
It's time to put my affairs in order.
-
Now let us put all our affairs in order today.
Blog text (27) -
Mr. Hobbs spent the remainder of the day... putting his affairs in order.
-
"A man puts his affairs in order; he's free to come and go as he pleases."
Fiction book (1994) -
Three days earlier, she had disappeared from our house in Ansonborough, and only later did I discover that she had checked into the Mills-Hyatt House to put her affairs in order.
Fiction book (1996) -
Sensing his imminent death, Raphael received the last rites, dictated his will, and put his personal affairs in order.
Academic text (2002) -
As she sits there alone in the booth, squinting into the late-afternoon sun, she thinks about Marian, who knows she is dying, sorting through her belongings, making little bequests such as this, putting her affairs in order.
Fiction book (1992) -
Before heading to the hospital, she made sure to put her affairs in order.
Synonyms
662
1.6
Arrange people, things, and activities so they work well
1
7.0
Arrange your personal, money, and legal matters before illness or death
1
4.9
Getting your home and things tidy and ready
Make things ready in the right order before you need them
Antonyms
How Prepared
140
3.4
6
6.2
∞
1.0
814
2.0
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
put + one + affairs + in + order
The phrase is directly compositional: 'put ... in order' means to bring something into an organized state and 'affairs' refers to one’s personal/legal/financial matters, so the overall meaning ('organize one’s matters') follows from the constituents. This is a common, transparent English construction with close parallels in many other languages, so a B1 learner who knows the component words would very likely understand it.
Etymology
Put one's affairs in order paints a simple picture of someone laying out papers, bills and keys on a desk so everything is neat and ready. To put one's affairs in order means 'to organize' your personal, legal or money matters, often before illness, death or a big life change.