漢語(yǔ)以“債臺(tái)”狀負(fù)債額，故負(fù)債等，亦稱“債臺(tái)髙筑”。不信請(qǐng)査《漢英詞典》:“負(fù)債累累”和“債臺(tái)髙筑”有它們的共同譯名—— be heavily in debt 和 be debt-ridden; 還有不同的譯名 be up to ones ears in debt(債臺(tái)高筑）和 be up to one's eyes in debt(負(fù)債累累)。

但這只是說(shuō)這兩個(gè)漢語(yǔ)四字語(yǔ)含義相同，而不是在其它方面也完全同一。例如，“債臺(tái)高筑”比較形象，“負(fù)債累累”則是抽象的。因此，似乎得分一下工，讓比較抽象的“be up to one's ears in debt”譯“債臺(tái)髙筑”。這樣，也許更為貼切吧。

不管怎么說(shuō)，兩種譯法中有一點(diǎn)是共同的：英語(yǔ)得以“be in debt”表達(dá)債或負(fù)債。但描述負(fù)債之重，英語(yǔ)未必要用“heavily” 而也可以，比如說(shuō)，用deep:
1. The result was that his father cut his allowance, which soon put Charles deep in debt.
                                                              —True Detective, August 1980, p. 24
既然可以用deep，當(dāng)然也可以更進(jìn)一步用deeper:

2. The strike cost the company a small fortune： executives say it is now $340 million deeper in debt, and may have lost as much as 10 per cent of the British steel market during the stoppage.
                                                              一 Newsweek，April 14，1980, p. 30
但是用deep(er)同上文所說(shuō)的heavily一樣，也不是形象的描述。如是形象化的描述，則與上述“ be up to one's ears in debt”(“渾身是債”？)相類的還有“be up to one's ass(hole) in debt"（“ 背了一屁股債”?），請(qǐng)看實(shí)例：

3. With two children in college，he is up to his ass in debt .
                                                         —The Study of Current English, May 1980, p. 49

在西方，舉債往往得有什么東西作抵才行，所以債臺(tái)高筑也意味著“押”臺(tái)高筑：

4. George: Just drop it, Jeff!
Jeff: Yuh marry a dame with three kids，you buy a big house with mortgages up to your ass, you change your religion and you forget about business, great! Really great! (George swings at Jeff to punch his jaw)
                                                                               -- ibid