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Had it up to here

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An idiomatic phrase indicating one has reached the limit of tolerance or patience; often appears in dramatic monologues or confessional poetry to convey emotional exhaustion, frustration, or impending confrontation.

Detailed Definition
Had it up to here means to have reached the limit of patience, tolerance, or endurance. In poetry, the idiom can dramatise accumulated frustration after many small injuries, insults, delays, or injustices. The phrase is often accompanied by an imagined gesture to the throat or forehead, making emotional saturation physical. It suits dramatic monologues, protest poems, family quarrels, or comic rants. A poet can use it to show the moment when restraint fails and suppressed feeling demands expression.
Example
Example in poetry:
A comic monologue may have the mother say she has had it up to here with excuses; In a protest poem, the crowd has had it up to here with broken promises; The phrase can show exasperation reaching its limit; A poet might make the gesture visible, hand raised to the brow.
Additional Notes
Had it up to here means one has reached the limit of patience or tolerance, often accompanied by a gesture near the neck or head. In poetry, it can bring dramatic voice and bodily immediacy to frustration. The phrase suits monologue, comic complaint, domestic conflict, or political anger. Students should notice that it makes emotion measurable: irritation becomes a rising level that threatens to overwhelm the speaker.
Also Known As
fed up
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