drinking from a fire hose
idiomatic phrase

- To take on, or to be inundated by more of something than one is capable of handling (e.g. work, tasks, information, etc.)

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BACKGROUND

This interesting idiom uses the uncomfortable image of water streaming out of a fireman's hose and gushing straight into one's mouth. Two rhetorical devices are combined to achieve a strong effect:

(1) Metaphor: referring to one thing (workload) by mentioning another (gushing water), and

(2) Hyperbole: exaggerating the truth in order to achieve dramatic effect

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TALKING POINT
Practice OWAD in a conversation today, say something like:

"Don't you find that researching information from the internet is a bit like DRINKING FROM A FIRE HOSE?"

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SYNONYMS

to be overwhelmed, to be inundated, to be underwater, to be snowed under (with information, work, etc.)

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Thanks to Nick for suggesting this phrase