In an email this morning from Marge Schiller, my colleague and friend in the US, she mentioned that “eyeballs and alligators are in far too close proximity“.
My first thought was “What on earth …? ” :)
But the web is a wonderful place to wander, so I embarked on a wee journey of fun and discovery.
Apparently being “up to the eyeballs in alligators” is a uniquely American expression for when things seem particularly overwhelming or work is stressful. And although we Aussies certainly have similar experiences, alligators don’t enter the equation. Perhaps because we have crocs not alligators, and those only in our northern regions. :)
I learned that we can be up to our ‘ass‘, ‘armpits‘ or ‘eyeballs‘ in alligators too. Obviously there are different levels of severity for an alligator quota. :)
And here’s a great saying:
When you’re up to your ass in alligators, it’s hard to remember you’re there to drain the swamp.
I’ll have to remember that one and use it sometime!
I also found myself smiling when I read a post by an artist, Jill Banks, who said she was ‘literally’ up to her eyeballs in alligators. The mind boggles!
And there’s even a book by Larry Wilde about being up to your eyeballs in alligators!
My exploration of eyeballs and alligators just goes to show that there are always new things to learn and discover in life.
And (as I said to Marge) next time you find yourself up to the eyeballs – or any other part of your anatomy – in alligators, may you find they are well-fed, sleepy and very friendly after all! :)
G’day Sue
Just wanted to say hi, and give you another possibility……
It could be deep water up to your neck….or, a gator who hooked up with a giraffe. Either way, that critter is looking you in the eye!
Take care
Jeff – twitter/jeffmiller79
Hi Jeff .. great to hear from you! :) And I assume it’s definitely not a good thing to be eye to eye with an alligator under any circumstances! ;)
Cheers, Sue
Thank you for sharing the meaning of “Up to my eyeballs with alligators”. My boyfriend and I recently replied to an ad for a Corvette. He called the number and when coordinating a time to see the car the guy kept saying “I’m up to my eyeballs in alligators”. Then when we met him to see the car he kept saying the same thing. The guy does live on a lake but there are no alligators in Washington State. So of course we questioned his sanity. When we came home my boyfriend searched the internet to see if there was information about alligators on the lake where the man with the corvette lived. I used the AI to search the phrase and that is how I ended up here. So thank you again. We ended up buying the Corvette and my boyfriend is restoring it. Whenever I ask him how it’s going? He often says “I’m up to my eyeballs in alligators”: