
Yesterday we ran a quiz titled “Monty Python Phrase or Ben Franklin Synonym for Drunk?” The quiz referred to Franklin’s lengthy list of expressions meaning “inebriated” that he first published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on January 6, 1737.
People must be tired of using the same old terms when describing their wasted friends, because we’ve received a number of requests for Franklin’s entire list. And that’s what we’re here for! So here’s The Drinkers Dictionary. If you know any new phrases you’d like to add, leave them in the comments.
A
He is Addled,
He’s casting up his Accounts,
He’s Afflicted,
He’s in his Airs.
B
He’s Biggy,
Bewitch’d,
Block and Block,
Boozy,
Bowz’d,
Been at Barbadoes,
Piss’d in the Brook,
Drunk as a Wheel-Barrow,
Burdock’d,
Buskey,
Buzzey,
Has Stole a Manchet out of the Brewer’s Basket,
His Head is full of Bees,
Has been in the Bibbing Plot,
Has drank more than he has bled,
He’s Bungey,
As Drunk as a Beggar,
He sees the Bears,
He’s kiss’d black Betty,
He’s had a Thump over the Head with Sampson’s Jawbone,
He’s Bridgey.
C
He’s Cat,
Cagrin’d,
Capable,
Cramp’d,
Cherubimical,
Cherry Merry,
Wamble Crop’d,
Crack’d,
Concern’d,
Half Way to Concord,
Has taken a Chirriping-Glass,
Got Corns in his Head,
A Cup to much,
Coguy,
Copey,
He’s heat his Copper,
He’s Crocus,
Catch’d,
He cuts his Capers,
He’s been in the Cellar,
He’s in his Cups,
Non Compos,
Cock’d,
Curv’d,
Cut,
Chipper,
Chickery,
Loaded his Cart,
He’s been too free with the Creature,
Sir Richard has taken off his Considering Cap,
He’s Chap-fallen,
D
He’s Disguiz’d,
He’s got a Dish,
Kill’d his Dog,
Took his Drops,
It is a Dark Day with him,
He’s a Dead Man,
Has Dipp’d his Bill,
He’s Dagg’d,
He’s seen the Devil,
E
He’s Prince Eugene,
Enter’d,
Wet both Eyes,
Cock Ey’d,
Got the Pole Evil,
Got a brass Eye,
Made an Example,
He’s Eat a Toad & half for Breakfast.
In his Element,
F
He’s Fishey,
Fox’d,
Fuddled,
Sore Footed,
Frozen,
Well in for’t,
Owes no Man a Farthing,
Fears no Man,
Crump Footed,
Been to France,
Flush’d,
Froze his Mouth,
Fetter’d,
Been to a Funeral,
His Flag is out,
Fuzl’d,
Spoke with his Friend,
Been at an Indian Feast.
G
He’s Glad,
Groatable,
Gold-headed,
Glaiz’d,
Generous,
Booz’d the Gage,
As Dizzy as a Goose,
Been before George,
Got the Gout,
Had a Kick in the Guts,
Been with Sir John Goa,
Been at Geneva,
Globular,
Got the Glanders.
H
Half and Half,
Hardy,
Top Heavy,
Got by the Head,
Hiddey,
Got on his little Hat,
Hammerish,
Loose in the Hilts,
Knows not the way Home,
Got the Hornson,
Haunted with Evil Spirits,
Has Taken Hippocrates grand Elixir,
I
He’s Intoxicated,
Jolly,
Jagg’d,
Jambled,
Going to Jerusalem,
Jocular,
Been to Jerico,
Juicy.
K
He’s a King,
Clips the King’s English,
Seen the French King,
The King is his Cousin,
Got Kib’d Heels,
Knapt,
Het his Kettle.
L
He’s in Liquor,
Lordly,
He makes Indentures with his Leggs,
Well to Live,
Light,
Lappy,
Limber,
M
He sees two Moons,
Merry,
Middling,
Moon-Ey’d,
Muddled,
Seen a Flock of Moons,
Maudlin,
Mountous,
Muddy,
Rais’d his Monuments,
Mellow,
N
He’s eat the Cocoa Nut,
Nimptopsical,
Got the Night Mare,
O
He’s Oil’d,
Eat Opium,
Smelt of an Onion,
Oxycrocium,
Overset,
P
He drank till he gave up his Half-Penny,
Pidgeon Ey’d,
Pungey,
Priddy,
As good conditioned as a Puppy,
Has scalt his Head Pan,
Been among the Philistines,
In his Prosperity,
He’s been among the Philippians,
He’s contending with Pharaoh,
Wasted his Paunch,
He’s Polite,
Eat a Pudding Bagg,
Q
He’s Quarrelsome,
R
He’s Rocky,
Raddled,
Rich,
Religious,
Lost his Rudder,
Ragged,
Rais’d,
Been too free with Sir Richard,
Like a Rat in Trouble.
S
He’s Stitch’d,
Seafaring,
In the Sudds,
Strong,
Been in the Sun,
As Drunk as David’s Sow,
Swampt,
His Skin is full,
He’s Steady,
He’s Stiff,
He’s burnt his Shoulder,
He’s got his Top Gallant Sails out,
Seen the yellow Star,
As Stiff as a Ring-bolt,
Half Seas over,
His Shoe pinches him,
Staggerish,
It is Star-light with him,
He carries too much Sail,
Stew’d
Stubb’d,
Soak’d,
Soft,
Been too free with Sir John Strawberry,
He’s right before the Wind with all his Studding Sails out,
Has Sold his Senses.
T
He’s Top’d,
Tongue-ty’d,
Tann’d,
Tipium Grove,
Double Tongu’d,
Topsy Turvey,
Tipsey,
Has Swallow’d a Tavern Token,
He’s Thaw’d,
He’s in a Trance,
He’s Trammel’d,
V
He makes Virginia Fence,
Valiant,
Got the Indian Vapours,
W
The Malt is above the Water,
He’s Wise,
He’s Wet,
He’s been to the Salt Water,
He’s Water-soaken,
He’s very Weary,
Out of the Way.
A note from Mr. Franklin: “The Phrases in this Dictionary are not (like most of our Terms of Art) borrow’d from Foreign Languages, neither are they collected from the Writings of the Learned in our own, but gather’d wholly from the modern Tavern-Conversation of Tiplers. I do not doubt but that there are many more in use; and I was even tempted to add a new one my self under the Letter B, to wit, Brutify’d: But upon Consideration, I fear’d being guilty of Injustice to the Brute Creation, if I represented Drunkenness as a beastly Vice, since, ’tis well-known, that the Brutes are in general a very sober sort of People.”
[Thanks to HistoryCarper.com for their Ben Franklin archives.]
Pixelated
Drunk as 400 rabbits
posted by Drew on 12-15-2010 at 3:39 pm
my friends always said, “he was practicing his festivating for the Festival of Maghutenmahagghen.”
posted by Wayne on 12-15-2010 at 3:40 pm
It’s not new, but how about “three sheets to the wind”?
posted by Steve on 12-15-2010 at 3:41 pm
I rather liked “Cherry Merry”.
posted by Ophelia on 12-15-2010 at 3:44 pm
He is Brahms and Liszt (Cockney rhyming slang).
posted by Ian on 12-15-2010 at 4:01 pm
We always say that “we’re taking it to Foggy London Town”
posted by McC on 12-15-2010 at 4:52 pm
“’Tis well-known, that the Brutes are in general a very sober sort of People.”
Epic.
posted by Jane on 12-15-2010 at 5:47 pm
…”knee walking drunk…” Doc Watson
posted by Keith on 12-15-2010 at 6:09 pm
gettin’ wount ( as in wound up tighter than a banjer strang )
posted by Bob on 12-15-2010 at 7:13 pm
I was praying that I’d find “shitfaced” on the list.
posted by Crestfallen on 12-15-2010 at 7:24 pm
Hehe…I was looking for “shitfaced” too! I was also disappointed that my favorite wasn’t on there: HAMMERED!
posted by dooflotchie on 12-16-2010 at 1:45 am
Love it, thanks!
posted by Jennifer on 12-16-2010 at 9:25 am
Half-Snockered
posted by matt on 12-16-2010 at 11:42 am
my aunt always used “half shot in the ass”
posted by e on 12-16-2010 at 12:33 pm
In Maine they say plowed. Lots of plows up there.
posted by joe on 12-16-2010 at 2:02 pm
I’ve heard “drunk as a bicycle.”
posted by Colin on 12-16-2010 at 4:45 pm
My father-in-law always says that someone is “drunker than Cootie Brown.” I have always wondered how drunk Cootie Brown was?
posted by Maranda on 12-16-2010 at 6:17 pm
Blotto!
posted by Jael on 12-16-2010 at 6:21 pm
“a wonderful state of pissed bliss” or just plain ol’ “pleasantly pissed” works for me.
posted by Sam on 12-17-2010 at 12:10 am
Each of those collected phrases has a secondary or implicit meaning as to the reason ot the occasion of the “adulation” (as in -Adulation of the “grape” or “grain”- depending on which was the source). Therein the somewhat contracted “addled”. A more modern one for an unspecified drunk is,”Metabolic poison as recreational drug.”
Some of them are celebratory, others are mourning, and others are from being gotten drunk as a prelude to some other activity, like being “shanghiaed”.
posted by Leon on 12-17-2010 at 10:41 pm
Sloshed, wrecked, pissed, hammered, wasted, smashed, trashed.
posted by NikkiG on 12-18-2010 at 1:45 am
I was looking for 3 sheets to the wind, too.
Some of the ones we use now, of course, might not have been used back then in good old Ben Franklin’s day.
Great list!
posted by ann on 12-18-2010 at 5:19 pm
writers like Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald refer to being drunk as being “tight”
posted by Emmalee on 12-18-2010 at 9:10 pm
I Kinda love (ahem)
“Toe u from the flow up.”
Tore up from the floor up (for those uninitiated in urban…)
posted by Dr. Bonegagger on 12-18-2010 at 9:38 pm
“He’s got the lean”
Crump footed is def my new phrase!
posted by CJ on 12-19-2010 at 5:39 pm
We used to say, “He has a look on”, or, “He’s got a horrible look”..
Slammed.
What happened to “all fuct-up”?
Twisted.
Blasted.
posted by Piercebone on 12-20-2010 at 12:03 am
pickled
posted by ee on 12-20-2010 at 1:13 am
I have always used the term “ruint”….(pronounced ruunt).
North Carolina mountain moonshine, and that full moon tonight Billy, getchee ruint for’ day come.
posted by albert8fish on 12-21-2010 at 2:25 pm
One of his time not there–He’s in Alt/In his Altitudes. He’s shot the cat is also missing.
There’s another one Georgette Heyer used in one of her Regency novels, but it’s evading my grasp right now.
A modern one is On the pocelain phone to God, as is Worshipping the porcelain Buddha.
posted by A. Marina Fournier on 1-4-2011 at 8:37 pm
What, no Plastered?
posted by A. Marina Fournier on 1-4-2011 at 8:38 pm