Catchphrase or word for overcrowded

Question

I am trying to think of catchwords or phrases related to a place being too busy. Something catchy.

Examples I've found on the internet: packed, crammed, jammed, packed-like-sardines, choc-full, etc..

Thanks and hope this question is suitable for this board

Here's a few I though of: jam-packed, elbow-to-elbow, standing room only, packed like sardines … But I see this has been discussed before: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/143782/idiom-or-word-for-a-very-crowded-place — ralph.m, Jan 10 '16 at 21:07
Board? What is this the 90's? We're a gosh darn site. And a fairly popular one at that. — candied_orange, Jan 10 '16 at 21:42
@Armen Safieh-Garabedian An example of how you want to use that phrase might help... — Elian, Jan 10 '16 at 22:07

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 11 '16 at 05:22

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, third edition (2008) has this entry for "to the gills":

to the gills INFORMAL used in expressions to mean completely full: By the time the fourth course was served, I was stuffed to the gills. • The restaurant was packed to the gills.

Another vivid phrase is "as close [or tight] as white on rice," as in this excerpt from John Wideman, Hurry Home (1970):

So there was the mag[istrate] soft talking and trying to move down the street with all them [people] crowded round him. Close as white on rice. He was like a stick being carried away by the gutter or a leaf in the wind.

JEL · Answer 2 · 2016-01-10T21:04:38.713

Along the same lines as your examples, you could use the adjective from the past participle of 'throng', 'thronged':

throng v.intr.
To gather, press, or move in a throng.

And likewise the adjective from the past participle of 'swarm', 'swarmed':

swarm v.intr.
To be overrun; teem.

(Both definitions from The Free Dictionary.)

For a variety of possibilities (take your pack), WordHippo is a good resource:

congested
jam-packed
cramped
huddled
loaded
populous
crushed
massed
mobbed
overflowing
stuffed
chock-full
dense
elbow-to-elbow
filled to the rafters
fit to bust
mob scene
sardined
wall-to-wall

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 10 '16 at 21:56

It's a zoo

From Dictionary.com

Also, what a zoo. This is a place or situation of confusion and/or disorder.

The OP said "overcrowded" or "too busy". A place that is overcrowded is either already a place of confusion and/or disorder, or is on the verge of becoming so.

Example: "This restaurant is a zoo! Let's go somewhere less crowded."

CDM · Answer 4 · 2016-01-11T07:32:00.937

From Wikipedia: cluster fuck (also Clusterfuck, Charlie-Foxtrot) -"Chaotic and messy situation from multiple mistakes or problems happening in rapid succession." I generally use this term to describe overly packed areas.

"Let's not go to Starbucks now, it's probably a cluster fuck."

It's also used in gaming circles:

"Someone throw a nade, there's a cluster fuck of demon spawn."

If you are looking for something without any profane expletives, goat rope, goat rodeo and goat screw also have the same meaning.

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 05 '18 at 22:09

0

teeming TFD

v. teemed, teem·ing

abounding in people, fish, insects, et; dense or bustling

answered Apr 05 '18 at 22:09

lbf

30,385

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 06 '18 at 05:11

0

I thought asses to elbows was a pretty silly expression until I saw my baby's ultrasound. A womb is truly asses to elbows.

answered Apr 06 '18 at 05:11

user662852

3,255

Catchphrase or word for overcrowded

6 Answers6