to be in the middle of a generally complex set of activities, with the connotation that both the initial energy from starting out and the anticipation of an imminent conclusion are remote at the moment; may have neutral implications or can indicate that the subject is flustered or harried, as in “The engineering team won’t be making the meeting, with tomorrow’s deadline on the prototype they’re really in the soup”; evokes the image of a person swimming uncomfortably in a steaming pot of broth; cf. a lot of moving parts