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Glite Dictionary
to put your affairs in order

to put your affairs in order

1 7.0
Arrange your personal, money, and legal matters before illness or death
  • idiom
  • Formal
translation icon : poner en orden tus asuntos
  • Before undergoing surgery, she decided to put her affairs in order just in case anything went wrong.

Examples

  • I suggest you put your affairs in order.

    3 Days to Kill (2014)

  • You have cancer, and you'd best put your affairs in order.

    Blog text (24)

  • Based on your health, on your condition, on all the evidence we have, we estimate you have 30 days left to put your affairs in order.

    Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

  • It's important to put your affairs in order before you travel abroad for an extended period.

  • After receiving the diagnosis, he knew he needed to put his affairs in order to ease his family's burden.

Synonyms

to get your shit together
vsto put your affairs in order
  • Offensive
24 9.9

To put your life in order and take care of your tasks

is formal and specifically about preparing matters for serious future risks
to put one's affairs in order
vsto put your affairs in order
6 6.2

Arrange your personal, legal and money matters before a serious illness or death

is the standard phrase for preparing legal and financial matters for change
to sort oneself out
vsto put your affairs in order
  • Informal
2 5.9

To put your life and thoughts in order when you feel confused

is focused on practical legal and financial arrangements for future events
putting one's house in order
vsto put your affairs in order
1 4.9

Getting your home and things tidy and ready

is broader, covering legal, financial, and personal preparation for serious change
to line up one's ducks
vsto put your affairs in order
  • Informal
8.4

Make things ready in the right order before you need them

is used for preparing specifically for illness, death, or major change

Antonyms

to neglect
256 3.8

Fail to care for someone or something you should look after

to leave it be
  • Informal
1 5.1

To let something stay as it is without changing it

How Prepared

to put your affairs in order
  • Formal
1 7.0
to prepare
∞ 1.0
to plan
∞ 1.0
to do nothing
888 1.5

Surface Forms

put your affairs in order infinitive
put your affairs in order past
put your affairs in order past participle
putting your affairs in order present participle
puts your affairs in order third person singular

Morphology

put + your + affairs + in + order

The meaning is a direct composition of 'put' + 'in order' (to arrange/organize) applied to 'affairs' (personal matters), so a B1 learner knowing the words can infer it means to organize one’s personal/financial/legal matters. The more specific pragmatic nuance (preparing for illness or death) is context-dependent but does not prevent understanding of the core, compositional meaning; similar constructions exist in many languages, supporting transparency.

Etymology

The phrase put your affairs in order comes from the image of someone at a table sorting papers, bills and a will into neat piles before a serious illness or death. By literally putting these things 'in order' so others can find them, the phrase now means 'to organize your personal, financial, and legal matters'.