Flat out like a lizard drinking

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Meaning

Working extremely hard, very busy, or moving at top speed. The Australian simile is deliberately comic.

Origin

This Australian expression extends flat out, meaning at maximum speed or effort, with a visual joke: a lizard lowers and stretches its body when drinking, so it is literally flat out. The earliest located newspaper example is a report of a cricket match in the Uralla Times of New South Wales on 10 February 1930, where batters went flat out, like the lizard drinking. Later speakers have used it both for rapid movement and for being exceptionally busy; it is not an ancient bush proverb with a known individual author.

Research Sources

  1. flat out like a lizard drinking: meanings and origin Word Histories
  2. Ozwords: Australian slang Australian National Dictionary Centre, Australian National University

Variants

  • Flat out like a lizard drinkin'
  • Going flat out like a lizard drinking

Usage Examples

  • We have been flat out like a lizard drinking since the orders opened this morning.
  • The mechanic went flat out like a lizard drinkin' to finish the ute before sunset.
  • With three deadlines on Friday, the whole studio is going flat out like a lizard drinking.

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