(as) busy as a one-armed paperhanger (with an itch)

Constantly busy, active, or occupied (with something). I'm currently choreographing three plays, so I'm busy as one-armed paperhanger. Can we meet next week instead? I'm just as busy as a one-armed paperhanger with an itch right now. Between working two part-time jobs, volunteering on the weekends, and looking after his little brother, Sam's been busy as a one-armed paperhanger this summer.

ape hangers

slang Tall, angled handlebars on a motorcycle. I like how ape hangers look, but they make my arms go numb after a while. Ape hangers and highway pegs are a must, in my opinion. Do you think I should get ape hangers on my new bike?

cliffhanger

1. An ending of a piece of fiction (e.g., a television episode, chapter of a book, a film, etc.) characterized by a dramatically suspenseful and uncertain end. A good summer book always has a cliffhanger at the end of each chapter so that you never want to put it down! Judging by that movie's cliffhanger, I'd say we'll be seeing a sequel coming out fairly soon. The TV show kept audiences in suspense with a big cliffhanger at the end of the season finale.

2. A serial television or film production characterized by such endings. That show is a cliffhanger—the episodes never really have endings. That medical drama isn't particularly good, but it is a cliffhanger, so people just keep on watching it. If that show's a cliffhanger, then, nah, I'll pass—I like 30-minute episodes with neat resolutions.

3. Any contest, competition, or other such situation in which the outcome is suspenseful and uncertain until the very end. The two teams have been neck and neck for the entire second half, and with two minutes left this match has become a real cliffhanger. This election is looking like a cliffhanger, and we won't be able to truly say who's won until all the votes are counted. If all of the sport's best make it to the final heat, it will definitely be a cliffhanger.

hanger-on

Someone who spends time with a person or a group of people hoping to benefit in some way from the association. The term implies that such a person is sycophantic or unwanted. Ever since Jennifer became a famous actress, she's surrounded by hangers-on trying to use her to further their own careers. Naturally, when she lost her fame and fortune, all those hangers-on deserted her. I'd be wary of these new friends of yours. Fame attracts many a hanger-on, you know.

paper hanger

One who writes bad or dishonored checks, especially out of habit or as a criminal profession. Sometimes hyphenated. Apparently there's been a paper hanger passing through the state, depositing bad checks on Fridays and then skipping town before the banks are open on Monday. He was a paper-hanger for a while back in college. Nothing too serious, mostly just did it to pay for groceries or school supplies when he was low on cash.

ape hangers

n. long steering handles on a bicycle or motorcycle. Who is that guy riding the bike with ape hangers?

fence hanger

n. someone who cannot decide which side to be on. We need to find a way to persuade the fence hangers to come over to our side.

paper-hanger

n. someone who tries to pass bad checks. (see also paper, paper-pusher.) He’s wanted as a paper-hanger in four states.

cliff-hanger

A situation whose outcome is in extremely suspenseful doubt until the last moment. The term comes from serialized adventure films popular in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s, in which, at the end of each installment, the hero or heroine is left in a very dangerous situation, sometimes literally dangling from a cliff. The rationale, of course, was to entice the audience to return for the next installment in order to see what happened. By the 1940s the term was being transferred to other suspenseful states of affairs—for example, “the election was a cliff-hanger.”

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