"He's Got A Lot On His Plate"

Here's an exercise for you.

We've all heard the following expression many times:

"She's got a lot on her plate."

      

Too many times, in fact.

What does it really mean? I guess it means she's really busy, or got a lot of projects to manage. Something to that effect. But we've heard it so many times that it ceases to light up our minds with a graphic image.

Here's my challenge to you:

Can you think of some fresh expressions or metaphors to communicate the idea that "a person is really busy."

For example, if you wanted to say that somebody is mentally slow, you might say that:

"He's a few bricks shy of a load."

But there are also other ways. For example:

"His belt doesn't go through all the loops."
"His elevator doesn't go all the way to the top."
"His bell has no clanger."
"He's a few French fries short of a Happy Meal."

What are fresh, colorful expressions for saying a "person is really busy"?

[Fun Fact: The plate on the left is a meal I ate in Rabat, Morocco, and the one on the right is a meal my wife had in Takayama, Japan.]

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Update: Here are some of my favorites so far (be sure to check comments both to see and to add more):

• Jim Ley: "His calendar is writing checks his clock cannot cash."
• Katie Konrath: "He's got too many songs for his playlist."
• Craig Bruce via John E.: "His to-do list is so long that it doesn't have an end; it has an event horizon."
• Bill: "Busier than a teenage boy with two penises."
• Maria Helm: "I'm so busy I'm thinking of having a catheter installed so I can pee."

Comments

[Rob Firchau]

I like Jimmy Buffett's line from the song, "Far Side of the World," ...

There are jobs and chores and questions
And plates I need to twirl

Enjoy the day!

[Peter]

How about "He's juggling one too many cell phones"

[Free to think, Free to believe]

What about - 'He's got one too many blogs to manage...'?

[Maria Helm]

I always tell my husband I'm "juggling too many things right now".

An old boss used to pile things she was working at on the floor in her office, and when someone would ask how things were we'd say "the floor piles are getting pretty deep in there" or "she's run out of desk again".

I heard someone say once "I'm so busy I'm thinking of having a catheter installed so I can pee". (I think that's gross, but it got the point across.)

How about...

Her playlist is full.
Her todo list is longer than her day.
Her inbox is stacked 5ft deep.
She's working 40 hrs...per day.

[Bill]

I've always been fond of my father's expression, which is probably not printable here.

Suffice it to say that it's a little more vulgar rendering of "busier than a teenage boy with two penises".

[coleman yee]

"She has too many scoops in her cone."

"He has too many patties in his burger."

"His cup runneth over."

[John E.]

The French have a delightful expression for being over-busy: "perdre les pédales" -- lit., "losing the pedals". If you've ever ridden a fixed-gear bicycle down a steep hill, you get the idea.

Air traffic control operators use a similar expression -- "losing the picture" -- when they can't keep up with all the airplanes on their radar. This is of course a potentially deadly situation. (See "Something's got to give," NYT, 1996-03-24 -- now searchable for free!)

[John E.]

A relevant quip from my (distant) colleague Craig Bruce: "My to-do list is so long that it doesn't have an end; it has an event horizon."

[Katie Konrath]

She's got a full deck of cards.

Too many songs for his playlist.

A few too many logs on the fire.

More passengers than seats on the plane.

[andrew]

He needs an archaeologist to find his desktop.

[Jim Ley]

His calendar is writing checks his clock cannot cash.

[Phil]

My favorite:

As busy as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.

[Roger von Oech]

Rob, Peter, FTT-FTB, Maria, Bill, Coleman, John E., Katie, Andrew, Jim, Phil: These are lots of fun and full of energy. Thanks for contributing!

[Jack]

Busier than a spammer

[Jack]

Busier than a spammer

[Kris Bordessa]

The marathon's over but he's still running

He's on the red-eye to coming undone

She's giving the Tasmanian Devil a run for his money

[Patricia]

My all time favorite: I've got more bubblegum than I can chew!

[Joe]

This is atributable to Tom Waits and was heard on Martin Mull's "I'm Everyone That I've Ever Loved" album (yes album - not CD ;-) )

Please no PC flames - it's meant simply as humorous.

"I'm busier than a set of jumper cables at a Puerto Rican wedding"

[debra]

Warning: deadlines on calendar are closer than they appear

[silicon.shaman]

One I've personal experience with:
So busy his PDA just quit!
or
busy working 25/8 !!

[Tomas]

He manages/tries to please three women at the same time. (depending on if he has to much or just a lot)

If life was a computer he'd be a quad core processor. (for the geeks out there)

He has a yard with twenty trees and no leaf blower (if he has more to do then he can handle)

[Ravager]

Busier than a hooker on nickel night.

Always loved being busier than a one-legged guy in a butt kicking contest tho.

[jesslally]

para sa isang taong ntatkluban na ng mga gawain

sa tagalog -hindi nya na ako makita kahit kaharap ko na sya..

for a person who is oveloaded with works to do

in english - she can no longer see me even I'm already in front of her..

[Nate D.]

Juggling more balls than a Russian hooker

[Roger]

Busier than a cat trying to cover up on a cement sidewalk