up to here

English

Alternative forms

Variously up to one's eyeballs, up to one's eyes, up to one's ears, up to one's neck, etc.

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Prepositional phrase

up to here

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see up to,‎ here.
Just fill the bucket with water up to here.
(idiomatic) Overwhelmed, busy, buried or swamped.
I have been up to here in paperwork all week.
- 1953, Raymond Chandler, chapter 12, in The Long Goodbye:
  They have their lives to live and I'm up to here in disgust with mine.
Used as an intensifier.
I have had it up to here with his sarcasm.

I am stuffed up to here with appetizers.

Usage notes

Originally used with a gesture qualifying "here," e.g. holding up the hand flat at the level of the neck or the top of the head; subsequently used without any gesture, as the meaning is understood. Compare this close.

Derived terms

have had it up to here

Translations

overwhelmed, swamped

Finnish: kaulaa myöten
French: jusqu’au cou (literally “up to the neck”)
Portuguese: por aqui
Romanian: până în gât
Russian: по́ у́ши (ru) (pó úši, literally “up to one's ears”)
Spanish: hasta el gorro, hasta el culo
Turkish: boğazına kadar (literally “up to one's neck”), gırtlağına kadar (literally “up to one's throat”)

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