“I’m Flat Out” Means “I’m Extremely Busy”

“I’m Flat Out” Means “I’m Extremely Busy”

In everyday Australian workplace English, “I’m flat out” commonly means “I’m extremely busy” or “I’m working as hard as I can”. It does not mean that the speaker is lying down. The central idea of flat out is operating at the maximum speed or intensity.

A: Can you help today?
B: I’m flat out till three.

It is stronger than “I’m busy”. “I have many works” is not a natural alternative, because work is usually uncountable in this sense; say “I have a lot of work”. Flat out can also describe a machine operating at full speed.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/flat-out
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-09-17/im-stuffed-migrants-boggled-by-aussie-slang/1433256


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