Overwhelmed

Chastity: I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just 
be whelmed? 
Bianca: I think you can in Europe. 

- 10 Things I Hate About You

I just wrote a post about how much I enjoy reading student writing -- which is true, I do -- however, I'm not a fan of leaving the grading to accomplish in large chunks. Why can't I be more diligent and stagger the grading perhaps then I wouldn't be so overwhelmed.

Courtesy of my favorite word history website: etymonline.com...

overwhelm (v.) 

early 14c., "to turn upside down, to overthrow," from over- + M.E. whelmen "to turn upside down" (see whelm). Meaning "to submerge completely" is mid-15c. Perhaps the connecting notion is a boat, etc., washed over, and overset, by a big wave. Figurative sense of "to bring to ruin" is attested from 1520s. Related: Overwhelmed; overwhelming;overwhelmingly.

whelm (v.) 

c.1300, probably from a parallel form of O.E. -hwielfan (W.Saxon), -hwelfan (Mercian), in ahwelfan "cover over;" probably altered by association with O.E. helmian "to cover" (seehelmet).