From another thread:
The word pissed is used in the UK to signify drunk, whereas it means angry in the US. For angry, in the UK, we would use 'pissed off'. Is there a technical term for the following kind of joke [apart from weak, dreadful, etc]?
Do rowers get one over the eight?
Do brain surgeons get out of their skulls?
I have more which I won't bore you with (yet-
) but I am also interested to know how many of these "drunk" expressions are international or UK only. ["Off to trawl past threads for 'separated by a common language' themes" emoticon]
Rod Ward
Dunno if there is a term for the type of joke, but it seems to come from the same family as the 'Tom Swifties' (another thread somewhere here), and the old t-shirt ones: "Dress designers do it in style", "Accountants do it with double entries" and so on.
cheer
the sunshine warrior
ps: bladdered, wasted, out of it, arseholed come to mind...
Do rowers get one over the eight?
Do brain surgeons get out of their skulls?
Rowers get out of their sculls, obviously.
I'm glad someone took the bait.
I only noticed as I proofed it, but decided to leave it hanging.
Rod Ward
Do rowers get one over the eight?
Seen on the back of a midget's T shirt at a head race
Because the cox can't stroke itself
BTW; I haven't the foggiest notion what one over the eight means.
Editors do it on deadline
wow
One over the eight = drunk. A widely understood, but probably old fashioned term in UK. Presumably 8 pints (or double scotches) is just enough, nine is way too many.
Rod Ward
<<over the eights: nine's too many>>
I have read about a similar source for "mind your Ps and Qs," a line once used to admonish sailors going ashore leave to "mind [their] pints and quarts."
magicians do it with mirrors...
"Three sheets to the wind" is the one my mom uses... I know it's a sailing reference (Or rather, I suspect it's a sailing reference...), but have never gotten a confirm on that. Anyone? Anyone?
I agree that "three sheets to the wind" is nautical. The sheets are the ropes which hold the sails to (relatively) fixed bits of the boat, so if 3 (out of more presumably) sheets are "to the wind" or loose, then the sail will flap around, and presumably the boat will also travel unsteadily in a drunken manner.
Do clowns get pie-eyed
Do cooks get stewed
Do nurses get plastered
Do blasphemers get stoned
Do garage mechanics get well-oiled
Do laundrette assistants get 3 sheets to the wind
Rod Ward
<<three sheets to the wind = loose ropes (as in "jib sheets")
From Webster's online:
Etymology: Middle English shete, from Old English scyte; akin to Old English scEat edge, Old High German scOz flap, skirt Date: before 12th century
1 a : a broad piece of cloth; especially : BEDSHEET b : SAIL 1a(1)
Thus, not rope, but the sail itself. "Three sheets to the wind" would be lots of sail in the wind and equivalent to "going full speed ahead."
Or?
<<magicians do it with mirrors...>>
...and bunnies.
-Binky
...only just remembered:
'tired and emotional'
Used specifically when referring to drunken politicians. Native to the UK?
cheer
the sunshine warrior
'tired and emotional' Used specifically when referring to drunken politicians
Perfect!
Wish I'd known that phrase and meaning when I was a reporter. I think it may be UK usage.
If indeed "The Greeks Had a Word For It" is true then it must follow that "The Brits Have A Phrase For It"
'tired and emotional' -- A really good one!
I may pass it on to reporters still active in the business.
wow
I also had heard the ropes connection. This is supported by Dave Wilton. See
http://www.wordorigins.org/wordort.htm#Three Sheets to the. The notion is not one of clear sailing as suggest by inselpeter's
"going full speed ahead." but rather lack of control. This is expanded upon by the Word Detective here
http://www.word-detective.com/back-p.html#sheets wherein he contends there was a full up hierarchy of lack of control culminating in "four sheets to the wind" specifying unconsciousness.
Native to the UK?Yes, I think it was coined by the late great Peter Cook in the satirical magazine
Private Eye. Bless him
the ropes connectionI can’t speak for other areas, but in boating parlance around the south coast of England
sheet has, throughout my experience, unequivocally meant the ropes with which the sails are adjusted. To have three sheets to the wind simply implies being out of control, and so characteristically weaving about all over the place as blown by each puff of wind.
Engineers do it with precision
Scuba divers do it deeper
Copier techs do it repeatedly
Carpenters get hammered.
Football players get blitzed.
Musicians get strung.
Prostitutes get fucked up.
Sanitary workers get wasted.
Deli workers get pickled.
Snow Plow drivers get sloshed.
Boxers get stupid.
Tailors tie one on.
Zookeepers get zoo-headed.
Race car drivers get smashed.
I'd been thinking a thread on nautical terminology would be interesting; I know little of it but find it's often poetic. Would one of you be interested in kicking one off? It could include mariners' names for places, too. Anyone biting?
IP
Congatulations on your enthusiasm! Now maybe you can place it where it belongs... or at least follow a thread...
inselpeter wants a thread on nautical terminology
I have started the ball rolling in Miscellany.
Now that really takes the cake! Ænigma doesn't like the name of one of the sections on this board! mischief indeed! [Borrowing a Harrumph! from AnnaS emoticon]
Tired and emotional
Maverick, my memory (not always to be relied upon), has it that the phrrase was first used by Harold Wilson, prime minister at the time, trying to excuse George Brown's obviously drunken state in a TV interview by claiming that he (George Brown) had been "tired and emotional". It has since passed into the language.
Thanks, shanks, for posting that one.
Rod Ward
Maverick, my memory (not always to be relied upon), has it that the phrrase was first used by Harold Wilson, prime minister at the time, trying to excuse George Brown's obviously drunken state in a TV interview by claiming that he (George Brown) had been "tired and emotional". It has since passed into the language.
Ooooh, I think we can do better than that down here in Zild. In 1984, a very appropriate year, our dictatorial but permanently pickled Prime Minister, Sir Rob (Gin is my middle name) Muldoon, staggered out of a meeting with a dissident MP and declared an election without any real consultation with anyone else. The National Party proceeded to lose the election on a scale virtually previously unheard of. He was tired, yes, emotional, yes, but most of all, he was PISSED as a chook ...
<< virtually previously>>
Cap, I think you're on to something here. "Virtually previous" could come in handy in all sorts of situations, especially for politicos who need to re-arrange the inconvenience of precedent. [seriouslikon]
But can't help a quip. To take it to an extreme, a court could make a present decision virtually previous by declaring that that decision cannot be relied upon to set a future precedent. The present past thus becomes the virtual future in one (fail, fall, fowl, fool?) swoop and quicker than an Augustine moment.
This is Binky, wishing you a pleasant from the rings of Saturn, signing off.
It'll cost you.
This is Binky, wishing you a pleasant from the rings of Saturn, signing off.
My belief, but I'm not sure was that it was Private Eye that coined it about George Brown.
It was also used in Yes Minister with an addition: Sir Humphrey reads a newspaper report of Hacker's behaviour back to him the next morning, then clarifies that the exact phrase they used was "tired and emotional as a newt".
-- relying on memory, nothing more
Repetition, witty but.
Did we not have this discussion some time ago?
Can anyone supply the necessary?
wow
From Jo's excellent summary in FAQs:
Signature Lines:
The system allows you to add a signature. In the past, some of us have used our favourite quotes but we've found that this becomes distracting, after seeing the same line several times and we prefer not to use them.©
JoJo Publications Unlimitedhttp://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=announcements&Number=17018
wishing you a pleasant
Which brings up another YARTful rant
Have a good one!
-- PM is the Camline of EDP --
FoF
This discussion of YARTs is itself a YART, and a recent one at that. "Those who haven't been around that long... etc., etc.
I really don't think this kind of thing merits a discussion on the board. A polite note back channel will do, and will be respected.
Thanks,
IP
Defining "merits" is a job for the board collectively, as is clearly the case for "respects" that are demanded as opposed to earned... (as you have shown quite nicely by pointing out the YART of a YART of a YART
)... of course "healthy disrespect" has nothing to do with this!
I've come to believe that YART calling is "useless", one should expect topics to be repeated, but when it comes to whole threads it is in the best interest of all to point out publicly the repetition... and if you feel that criticism is best left in private, it is clear that you have not taken the time to dig into the history of ALL the threads here.
Just Lieder?
To be asked publicly to stop using the signature field is not a problem. Its a small thing to ask, and if it's a bother to the group, it's no bother to fix it. As to respect and merits, it might be well to move that over to the "information and announcements" heading under a new thread. If these are issues that need discussion, I suggest that this discussion could be collegial. [with best intentions]
IP
Dear Max: Again I say loudly: "Hear!Hear!"
I fully retract "useless" and resubmit I agree with "in jest"....in theory
.
IP quoth
If these are issues that need discussion, I suggest that this discussion could be collegial. [with best intentions]If you've ever been an academic, as several of us on the board have been or still are, you would know that collegiality is thinly disguised total war ...
> Tailors tie one on.
Why does "tie one on" mean drunk?
Afterthought : Maybe - too many in me so tie one on me?
Why does "tie one on" mean drunk?
On Formosa they Taiwan on.
As for what a sheet is, my sailor friends say both the sail and the line (NEVER "rope!") A common sailor's knot is a sheet bend. There, I took a bight out of that one, I did!
So, it should have been... Sailors tie one on.
Avy - maybe one of the senior (in total posts, not age
) staff here knows.. it came from my parents.
><<magicians do it with mirrors...>>
...and bunnies.
Not in THIS state, unless they want to go to gaol!
As for what a sheet is, my sailor friends say both the sail and the line (NEVER "rope!")
_____________________________________
Never rope - I quite agree (unless you were asking someone if they had any spare, but it's really far too vague a thing to ask for). A sheet = the rope that is used for moving a sail in and out. Most other stuff would probably be control lines. Collectively it's all commonly referred to as 'string' or knitting! Depends on how tangled up you've managed to get them all.
Back to the original strain:
Out to lunch
Off his trolley
Trollied
Out of your tree
Wibbled (but that's a kind of personal one and probably ought to go under word-coinage - I seem to remember (way back in the depths of student-dom) that it harks back to Blackadder, that 'to wibble' was to talk nonsense - when drunk one does and therefore you are 'wibbled').
Wazzed
Worse for Wear
Drunk as a Skunk
Pissed as a newt
W**kered
'Had a little too much'
rat-arsed
'Under the weather'
Over-indulged
I think that about exhausts my supply!
We have often wondered if "shitfaced" meaning drunk was a regional thing (from the Prairies). Anyone from elsewhere use it regularly? My Newfoundland friend contributed:
Ossified
Polluted
Drunk 'till I'm sober
In reply to:
Poster: Bean
Subject: Re: Drunk/pissed etc
We have often wondered if "shitfaced" meaning drunk was a regional thing (from the Prairies). Anyone from elsewhere use it regularly?
The phrase is certainly in use in Michigan to mean drunk, but then, on a global scale, we are practically next-door neighbors.
Indeed, and Manitoba is even closer to Michigan than Newfoundland!
By the way, the original post which started this off talked about usage of pissed. I use it both ways. Usually the context will help distinguish between angry and drunk. You can always say "pissed off" if you want to be clear about being angry.
Around here, people say that someone "has a load on" if they're drunk.
In my opinion, the phrase seems more closely related to Baby's diapers than to drunkenness.
Around here, people say that someone "has a load on" if they're drunk.
In my opinion, the phrase seems more closely related to Baby's diapers than to drunkenness.
i agree, rapunzel! your comment brings to mind a card i received when one of my babies was born, which said something to the effect of "You know you're a redneck when you think the '12-14lbs' label on the diaper package refers to the load it can hold."
as for the original conversation, "pissed" would almost always mean angry around here, but it's not a very nice word to use. for drunkenness, we usually use "lit" or "plastered".
We have often wondered if "shitfaced" meaning drunk was a regional thing (from the Prairies).
This was in common use when I lived in a house in London, along with a Glaswegian and a couple of Cornish people whose father hailed from the Ukraine.
Don't ask me where it comes from originally...
We have often wondered if "shitfaced" meaning drunk was a regional thing (from the Prairies).
This was in common use when I lived in a house in London, along with a Glaswegian and a couple of Cornish people whose father hailed from the Ukraine.
Well, that's interesting, because there are a lot of Ukrainians in Manitoba. My Newfoundland source says it's not as commonly used here (where the cultural background is 97% Britain/Ireland/Scotland/Wales).
Poster: Bean
Subject: Re: Drunk/pissed etc
We have often wondered if "shitfaced" meaning drunk was a regional thing (from the Prairies).
____________________________________________
It was definitely a common phrase when I was at university, but I've heard it less since - maybe it's more of a student phrase than a regional one?
Rapunzel may have answered the 'tie one on' question with 'the load' being the objective...
...a regional thing (from the Prairies). Widely used here in "prarie capitol"
Pastry Chefs get pie-eyed.
Ben Franklin made a list of 228 synonyms for the word drunk, two of them were cherubimical and nimplopsical.
Ben Franklin made a list of 228 synonyms for the word drunk, two of them were cherubimical and nimplopsical.... which just goes to show that you shouldn't list synonyms when you're shitfaced, I suppose!
"Shitfaced" has been in use in Zild forever. I've never heard it on TV or radio shows from overseas, yet it seems to be in common use everywhere from the posts above. Perhaps we've finally stumbled over the lodestone of Noam Chomsky's universal grammar at last!
To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if the drive to achieve drunkeness turned out to be some kind of universal constant. Elephants walk up to 80 miles in Namibia to feed on fermented bananas, and chimps and gorillas have been observed off their faces on fermented juices from various fruits. Even my last dog used to go out of her way to eat cherries which had started fermenting. A dog with a hangover is a sight to behold, let me tell you!
Don't know where any of these old names for drunk came from, but common usuage to one of my age...Bombed, Tight, Plastered, Tipsy, Snockered.
.Bombed, Tight, Plastered, Tipsy, Snockered..
Tight reminded me of one of my favorite old movies-- Tight Little Island.
Set on the shetland, or hebridies.. during WWII-- a small island-- with tight defences since it was stuck out in the North Sea-- all too easy prey to any invading Naval force... And then there is a Naval battle-- a convoy is struck-- it sinks.. but some of its precious cargo-- barrel and barrels of good scotch whiskey-- bound for the Americas.. washes up on shore..
Tight Little Island- indeed!
Oh, Helen, that movie is hilarious. If you enjoyed that, rent The Hallelujah Trail at once!
All the phrases mentioned are in common use around here, however one is more likely to hear "pissed" for drunk used man to man. It's not frowned on but is not used in mixed company much ... non-U ?
Along the Seacoast you are more likely to hear "three sheets to the wind" from the older set and "totally gone" among the younger. "Rat faced" was popular for awhile but seems to have fallen from use.
2 seats on the aisle for Helen and Wow! "Tight little island" (its original British title was "Whisky galore") is indeed a wonderfully funny film. It was based on a book by Compton Mackenzie (who also started "The Gramophone" magazine). More recently, his highland [of Scotland] stories were used as the basis for a most enjoyable TV series "The Monarch of the Glen".
More recently, his highland [of Scotland] stories were used as the basis for a most enjoyable TV series "The Monarch of the Glen".
Is it a BBC series? May one hope it will soon appear on our Public Broadcasting stations?
As they appear on the schedule we already enjoy the Britcoms "Are You Being Served" which is just repeated and repeated to our joy. (Are you free?)
"Waiting For God," "To The Manor Born," "As Time Goes By," "Games," (set in Australia) and "The Industry," etc. I'm sure I've forgotten a few.
Keeps me glued to set whenever they're on.
Have you the ear of the BBC perchance?
wow
we already enjoy the Britcoms "Are You Being Served" which is just repeated and repeated to our joy. (Are you free?)
"Waiting For God," "To The Manor Born," "As Time Goes By," "Games," (set in Australia) and "The Industry," etc
Are you sure 'Games' is a Britcom? Sound like you might mean 'The Games', which is dinky-di Aussie and nothing to do with the Brits at all. A spoof behind the scenes documentary showing how SOCOG 'organise' the Games. Very funny, but not British.
The thing about "The Games" (leaving nationalities and borax-poking aside) was how credible the spoof was. The confusion, the conflicting interests, and the way that John Clarke (as the boss) cut through it and continually left himself wide open, had us convulsed week after week. It could have really been set anywhere and still succeeded.
Perhaps, but one suspects that had it been set in the Athens Organising Committee, it would have had to have been labelled a documentary rather than a spoof/satire.Hmmm. Point taken.
My absolute favourite has to be "crapulent"
Others in regular use include "squiffy", "tight as a newt", "plastered", "arseholed", "tipsy", "pissed as a fart".
Have you heard the phrase "The sun is over the yard arm"? A nautical phrase meaning that one is not allowed to drink until the sun is beginning to set - usually interpreted as 6pm and now corrupted in my family to "The yard is over the arm" meaning "Get the booze out - it's just passed 6 o'clock"
Sara x
" SUN OVER THE FOREYARD, Time for drinking in the wardroom. Eight bells in the forenoon watch: mid-day. It is a traditional Naval convention never to drink before the sun clears the foreyard. Unknowing civilians sometimes substitute yardarm in mock-navalese."
One thing that puzzled me. It seems to me that this would mean the ship was travelling east. If it were travelling west, the sun would be high above the stern, not over the foreyard.
In reply to:
One thing that puzzled me. It seems to me that this would mean the ship was travelling east. If it were travelling west, the sun would be high above the stern, not over the foreyard.
Meaning, it seems, that if the Captain really wanted a drink in the morning, he just needed to order the ship about. Something like the phrase, "Well, it must be noon somewhere."
Welcome aBoard, Sara! Here's to you, whether it's 6:00,
noon, over the foreyard, yardarm, or the rail.
Dear sarawhyler: your word "crapulent" reminded me of an old joke, about the guy who told his wife the morning after coming home drunk, that another guy had thrown up on him.To which his wife replied: "Not only that. He also filled your pants." (That's crapulent!).
Interestingly enough I've never seen "crapulent" used to mean drunk although the dictionary confirms the veracity of Sara's (welcome!) assertion.
Usually I've seen it associated with illness.
And the full expression is "the sun is over the fore yardarm", so you all got bits of it right! Usually, I've seen the response, "Well, it's over the yardarm somewhere. Have a drink!"
Skol!
I use "crapulent" to mean "over-indulgent" with regard to alcohol and/or rich food...I've never applied it specifically to illness, although I suppose vertigo and vomiting are associated...
Sara.
I use "crapulent" to mean "over-indulgent" with regard to alcohol and/or rich food.It's the overindulgence in rich food side of things I've seen the word associated with. However, I'm impressed with
anyone who uses the word "crapulent" for
anything. Most of the people I deal with on a day-to-day basis wouldn't have even heard of the word!
Crapital Kiwi mentions:
However, I'm impressed with anyone who uses the word "crapulent" for anything.I had never heard the word until The Simpsons came along... Mr. Burns used it in the context of how evil he is ~ something about wallowing in his own crapulence. I love it.
I've been saying it ever since, and now you've given me a new way to make use of it!
I've been saying it ever since, and now you've given me a new way to make use of it!Then I guess I'm impressed with you, Fibonacci Babe!
And creeping crepuscular crapulence could mean slowly getting drunk at twilight.
creeping crepuscular crapulence Isn't it too bad that such a lovely time of day is described by such an ugly word?
For some reason, "crepuscular" always makes me think of crabs and lobsters. And I don't like seafood.
My absolute favourite has to be "crapulent"
Others in regular use include "squiffy", "tight as a newt", "plastered", "arseholed", "tipsy", "pissed as a fart".Somebody would have to be incredibly intoxicated (poisoned)
to be crapulent! Brings up visions of eruptions and pus. Gleck! (gag emoticon) But then, I am delicate in sensibility! (double
)
An interesting word, must tell my nurse friends!
Welcome Sara! looking forward to more of your posts!
wow
And creeping crepuscular crapulence could mean slowly getting drunk at twilighthow did you know?!
hi folks -- just resurrecting this old thread to share with you a wonderful typo in one of the books I'm currently reading:
"pissed to the eyeballss"
Gee, it's good to be back.
It's reely good to see you back, Paul. :)
And creeping crepuscular crapulence could mean slowly getting drunk at twilight.I remember that line, Dr. Bill! One of your classics!
"drunk" expressionsHey! I've found a couple that aren't yet included:
wrecked and
ratted (as opposed to rat-arsed, which is included already)
I'm so pleased with myself.
Also worth noting the famous (mainly Northern English) excuse for throwing up after drinking too much:
"Must have had a bad pint"
Any local variants worldwide?
Ben Franklin made a list of 228 synonyms for the word drunk, two of them were cherubimical and nimplopsical.
Now if only they had AWAD in his day......
Another excuse for being hung over:
Must be bad water in those ice cubes.
"Must have had a bad pint"
or this, for frequent trips to the loo (for other purposes!):
"I don't buy beer, I only rent it."
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
"Must have had a bad pint"
_________________________________
I'd always heard that it was the curry or the kebab that was to blame - couldn't ever be the beer - that would be sacrilege!
it was the curry or the kebab that was to blame - couldn't ever be the beer - that would be sacrilege!No no, other way around rkay - after all, what's guaranteed to make you sick after a heavy night's drinking, if not a very hot curry or a very greasy kebab (both having indeterminate ingredients) ? But these are such traditional accompaniments (in the UK anyway) that you are
obliged to think them a good idea and never to bad-mouth them.
When was the last time you heard:
"No, I'll skip the curry/kebab, thanks, or I'll be sick" ?
It's about as unlikely as:
"No drink for me, thanks, or I'll be sick"
- although the latter is at least possible in principle.
Ah no, curry and/or kebabs would never be thought a bad idea at the time - quite the opposite - afterall they are the traditional end to a night out, but better to blame them the next morning than the beer!
wrecked and ratted (as opposed to rat-arsed, which is included already)
This reminds me of one of Mrs Rhuby's classics. She had heard both the expression, "rat-arsed" and also, "arse-holed" as signifying inebriation. So her version was to accuse someone (not me, of course!) of being "rat-holed."
"rat-holed"As opposed to "arse-arsed" (the total opposite of
half-arsed presumably
) ?
on a quick look i couldn't see spannered or mashed or MAD FER IT, none are my favourite expressions but they can all mean drunk
and "kayleyed" (sp?) doesn't seem to have appeared yet, either.
a wwftd subscriber from Oz sent me maggered, adding Came across this word, which to my knowledge is only used in a small location in my part of the world - a place known as Kerang.
This small town, pop. 2,500 is located approximately 200km north west of Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia.
Maggered: (noun) to be intoxicated, usually by alcohol, but still able to comprehend your surroundings to the point just below being a nuisance to others.
Example of usage: "Look at Bill will you, he is absolutely maggered."
As far as I can tell on my visits to tiny Kerang, the word is not used as slang and appears only used in the district around Kerang.
can anyone confirm?
a place known as KerangSorry, I can't get past this without giggling inanely
Makes me think of a town populated solely by Heavy Metal bands. Here's why (if you didn't know):
http://www.kerrang.comYes, I imagine you could spend a lot of time Maggered in Kerang. Hmmm, that's a pretty good song title..
[picks up air guitar]
[head banging-e]
blasted, worse for wear, sloshed
Being lazy (& tired!) I haven't checked back through this thread - but I do recall mentioning "maggoted" once as an Ozism for drunk.
It's suspiciously close to "maggered" for me to wonder which came first. I'll go for maggoted because it is in national use.
As for expressions for expelling the excess intake, my current personal fave is "going the gargle".
stales
