例句1: "Half the people in my office are home sick, so I’m up to my ears!"

這個人說：“我辦公室里有一半的人有病請假，所以我簡直忙得不得了。”

下面這個例子是一個丈夫為了逃避到廚房去幫他太太的忙正在找借口：

例句2:"Gee, honey, you know I’d like to help you paint the kitchen tonight, but I’m up to my ears in paper work I had to bring home from the office. "

這個丈夫說：“親愛的，你知道我很愿意今晚幫你把廚房上油漆。可是我從辦公室帶回來好些要做的事。”

Up to one’s ears 當然還有其他意思：

例句3:"The mayor says he didn’t know people on his staff were taking bribes. But my guess is he’s up to his ears in it."

這句話的意思是：“市長說他不知道他手下的工作人員接受賄賂。可是，我猜想他完全是介入這些事的。”