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bite off

At the end of the first day of moving into a new house, the wife tells the husband:
— Thanks for making this work. I know it was a lot to bite off. It's gonna be great, isn't it?
The Conjuring, movie

Does it mean "to bite off "?
Thanks.
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I would interpret "to bite off" as meaning "to take on (as a challenge or responsibility)," perhaps with a reference to the idiom "to bite off more than one can chew." (Agreeing with heypresto.)
I agree that it's related to "to bite off more than we can chew."

It might be a reference to money, as VicNicSor suggests. It could also be that this is a bigger house than their previous place, and will thus be much more to take care of and maintain. It could be that they're facing a lot of renovations. It could be that the move coincides with other stressful events in their lives. We can't tell in what way this might be the case without more context.
On the first day of moving in, you have 30 years to worry about "a lot to pay off." It's not paid off until you make the last mortgage payment. "Bite off" makes more sense. It's a big deal.
That makes more sense by the way - it says "pay off". That's how I heard it at first too, but several transcipts say "bite off", so I trusted them👁 Smile :)

I don't think any of these are legitimate copyright copies. These are people listening to the movie and writing down what they hear and then posting them online without compensating the author(s).

<-----Russian phrase removed by moderator (Florentia52)----->
On the first day of moving in, you have 30 years to worry about "a lot to pay off." It's not paid off until you make the last mortgage payment. "Bite off" makes more sense. It's a big deal.
I've found the original screenplay, and it says:
Thank you for this.
(beat)
I know it was a lot for us to chew
off, but it’s going to be great,
isn’t it --
So, yes, it's got to be "bite off" then👁 Big Grin :D


Thank you everybody.
There is a fixed phrase "bite off more than you can chew". She is saying that it is a lot to bite off, but not more than they can manage (chew).

For me "bite off" works; "chew off" does not. "Pay off" lacks the intensity of "bite off".
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