Improve Your Speaking: 10 English Phrases You Need when You’re Busy

Hi there. This is Harry. Welcome back  to Advanced English Lessons with Harry,  

where I try to help you to get a better  understanding of the English language.

Okay, so what is the lesson about today? Well,  

this lesson it's all advanced English lesson.  And we're looking at ways to say I'm busy.

okay. So let's see what we can do.  We've got ten in total ten ways to say

that I'm busy okay.

So

First one. Simple. I'm tied  up. It means I've got. No, no.

time, no room to move. I'm tied up. Doesn't  literally mean I'm tied to the chair,  

but it could mean, yeah, I'm going  to be sitting in my desk for the next  

couple of hours. And so I really can't meet  anybody. I can't see anybody. I'm tied up.

In fact, for the next couple of days, give me

call or drop me an email

and perhaps we can meet after that.  But for the next few days, I'm tied up.

I'm tied up tonight.

I'm really busy.

I'm swamped. Okay, now when we are swamped, it  means we've got paperwork up to our eyeballs,  

up to the top of a head wherever you describe  it. But I'm swamped. So every time I move, more  

paper lands on my desk. Every time I move, more  emails drop into my inbox. I'm completely swamped.

But I'm swamped and I don't have  time to teach you about cuisine.

Swamped is when

if a boat.

A small boat is sailing under the water and the  water's quite rough. The water comes into the boat  

and soon it gets swamped and it starts to sink.  And that's how you feel when you're swamped with  

work. You're sinking under the weight of paper.  Okay, so I'm absolutely I'm totally swamped.

The one that people usually use. And it's  very, very familiar. I'm snowed under.

Snowed under, to be honest.  And I've got a headache.

Yeah. Snowed under means. It's like snow  drift coming in and I really can't move.  

I got so much work to do. I'm snowed under.  I don't think I'm going to be able to to get  

away at the weekend, as I thought and  I hoped. I'm completely snowed under.

We could just use a general  expression. It's hectic.

I know it's hectic.

Doesn't really say much, but it's hectic. The  phones are ringing all the time. Customers  

are looking for us, emails are coming  in. The orders are stacking up. Well,  

it's usually the way things are when we  are coming towards the end of the year.  

People want to get everything  done. I don't know what it is.

People are crazy to think the world is going to  end on the 30th of December. So they're sending in  

the orders now. So it's really hectic. It's been  hectic though for the last couple of months, so

hopefully we'll all be able

to enjoy our

holidays. But at the moment it's hectic.

We use snowed under.

We can also use similar I'm buried

in work like I'm up to my  armpits. I'm not up to my neck,  

I'm up to my eyes and work. I'm buried in  work. So a bit like snowed under buried  

means so much paperwork or whatever  that you just cannot move. Literally,  

you cannot move. I'm buried in work and it's  going to be like that for the next few days.

So if we're going to do something, let's do  it next week. Perhaps when some of this work  

shifts or I get somebody to try and help  me, I'm at the moment, though, I am buried

And as I said, where. But you can be up to  your eyes, up to your neck, up to your ears.

I'm up to my neck in paperwork.

People use all sorts of parts of  the body to describe some. Not so.

true or not so polite. They're so  they can be different parts of the  

body. Some up to my eyes, up to  my ears, up to my neck in work.

Okay. So just generally means  I've lots and lots and lots to do.

We can then talk about plate like a dinner  plate. So I've got too much on my plate or  

I've got a lot on my plate. So it suggests  that not about food too, but just about work.

Really. I'm just. I've got  a lot on my mind right now.

And the boss comes. He wants to give  you something else to do. He says,  

how's your workload? I have got a lot to  do at the moment, but what do you want?

Oh, just these things that just need doing by the  weekend. Oh, just put it on there and will add  

it to the pile. So when you go home you sort of  complain. Oh, cut. And the boss came to me today  

and with all the work I've got on my plate, I  just don't know when I've got time to do it.

But, you know, I just couldn't say no. But I  really do have too much on my plate. I have  

a lot on my plate at the moment, so it means I'm  going to have difficulty finishing it all. It's  

like when you go to a restaurant and you get  a big, big helping of food and you look at it,  

I mean, literally there's a lot on your plate and  you're wondering, how are you going to eat at all?

Of course, you don't have to eat it all. And  that's the the thing. But when somebody puts  

really nice food on your plate, you feel  an obligation to do as much as you can,  

eat as much as you can. So with the work you feel  

the same. You've got a lot on your  plate yet, too much on your plate.

But something tells you. Little voice inside says  

you've got to do it. The boss wants  you to do it. You've got to do it.

Now something a little bit more formal. I'm  at maximum capacity. That very formal. Maximum  

capacity for what? Yeah. So we could when we put  the foot on the accelerator and the car drives  

at maximum capacity, we really open it up and it  goes really, really fast. But when you're working  

and you're at maximum capacity, it probably  means that, yeah, there's no more you can do.

It's just impossible for you to take  on any more work. So you tell your,

pa if you have one or you tell your boss,  so you tell your colleagues that there's  

no way I can take on any more work.  I'm going to have to pass it on to you  

guys. So I'm going to be delegating  work for the next couple of months.

So I'm at maximum capacity. I'm at breaking point.

You could just make a general statement  to people who wanted to do things,  

so you could sort of pass them  off politely by saying, well,  

look, I have some other priorities to get  through over the next couple of days. So, you

it really means I've got more important things  to do, but you don't really want to say that yet.

So I've got some other priorities. But if  you give me a call in a couple of days,  

I'm sure I'll be able to squeeze you in for  an appointment or a referral and we'll see  

exactly what needs to be done. Okay, so at the  moment I have other priorities, but, you know,  

leave it with me. Call me back in a couple of days  and I'm sure we'd be able to to deal with it then.

Okay.

And then simply, I have my hands  full. My hands are full of work. Yeah.

I have my hands full.

That would be great, except I  have my hands full trying to.

What more can I do? Everything. Every time I  move. Somebody gives me something else at the  

moment. And for the last few weeks, I have had my  hands full. I don't expect it to change any time  

soon. Okay, so ten particular expressions  a ways to suggest that you're busy now.

We could use some very, very rude ways  to tell somebody where to go when we  

are busy. But unfortunately, I think Google  might shut me down. So I have to be really,  

really careful. And when you're using these  expressions, you can also use some quantifier  

qualifiers and quantifiers with them when  you want to add describe. So you could say  

I'm a little tied up at the moment or  I'm a bit hectic or it's a bit hectic.

I'm rather snowed under or quite snowed  under. I'm completely snowed under. So  

you can use them to, to describe what  sense you have in terms of your work,  

how much work you actually have. So let me  give you a few examples. So I'm a bit tied  

up for the next few days. I'm rather  swamped. I'm completely snowed under.

It's quite hectic here at the  moment. I'm really buried in work.

I'm completely up to my eyes.

I've got rather a lot to do.

I have a lot

other priorities on my plate at the moment

and my hands are completely full. So there are  different ways to use those in which you can,

underline or qualify your expression to  explain to somebody how busy you actually are.

Okay. And before we finished, I might just ask  you, if you do like this particular lesson, then  

please like the video and if you can subscribe  to the channel because it really, really helps.

I promised you that I would give you the address  at the end, and the address for contacting me is  

englishlessonviaskype.com. Try and practise some  of those are not so difficult when we're talking  

about busy. If you need some more examples of  how to use them, come back to me. I'll help  

you where I can. Like everything and every  time I tell you, practice makes perfect.

Practice makes perfect. So the more you practice,  

the more perfect it will become.  Okay, well, thanks for listening.  

Thanks for watching. This is Harry saying  goodbye. Join me again for the next lesson.