Flat out like a lizard drinking is another great Aussie expression and I really like the visual that this phrase creates.

As you may be aware a lizard is a small reptile with a long body, four short legs, a long tail and thick skin. When it drinks, its tongue makes quick, frenetic movements to lap up the water.

In standard English, the phrase flat out can either mean ‘as fast as possible’ or ‘to lie fully stretched out’ (just like a lizard). So, the Australian expression flat out like a lizard drinking is a play on words because it combines the two definitions. It means:

“extremely busy, at top speed” (Australian National University).

It was first recorded in the 1930s and is sometimes shortened to ‘flat out like a lizard’. For example:

“I’ve been flat out like a lizard all morning!”

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Glossary

visual – the picture that you see in your mind when thinking about something

reptile – an animal that produces eggs and uses the heat of the sun to control its blood temperature

frenetic – fast and exciting in an uncontrolled way

lap up – to drink something by taking it in with the tongue

a play on words [idiom] – a humorous use of a word with more than one meaniing or that sounds like another word