fino al collo

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “up to the neck”.

Prepositional phrase

fino al collo

1. (idiomatic) up to one's eyes, knee-deep
   • 2020, Barack Obama, chapter 25, in Chicca Galli, Paolo Lucca, Giuseppe Maugeri, transl., Una terra promessa [A Promised Land], Garzanti Libri:

     L'America, inoltre, era ancora immersa fino al collo nelle guerre in Iraq e in Afghanistan.

     America was also still knee-deep in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

     (literally, “America, moreover, was still immersed knee-deep in the wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan.”)