Why is a drunk person often said to be “cut” or “half-cut”?
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The usage is confirmed as sense 8 of the adjectival cut per the OED - see below. However no etymology is given.
- slang. Drunk, intoxicated. 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 171 He is flaw'd, fluster'd, Cup shot, cut in the leg or back. 1699 B. E. New
Dict. Canting Crew Cut, Drunk; Deep Cut..Cut in the Leg or Back,
very drunk. 1760 C. Johnstone Chrysal I. ii. i. 137 Your
excellency was a little cut, but you broke up much the strongest of
the company. 1823 J. G. Lockhart Reginald Dalton I. i. vii. 73 I'm
sure we had not much more than a bottle a-piece..I was not cut. 1848
Thackeray Bk. Snobs xli. 160 I was so cut last night.
meaning etymology
asked 3 hours ago
WS2
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up vote
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The usage is confirmed as sense 8 of the adjectival cut per the OED - see below. However no etymology is given.
- slang. Drunk, intoxicated. 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 171 He is flaw'd, fluster'd, Cup shot, cut in the leg or back. 1699 B. E. New
Dict. Canting Crew Cut, Drunk; Deep Cut..Cut in the Leg or Back,
very drunk. 1760 C. Johnstone Chrysal I. ii. i. 137 Your
excellency was a little cut, but you broke up much the strongest of
the company. 1823 J. G. Lockhart Reginald Dalton I. i. vii. 73 I'm
sure we had not much more than a bottle a-piece..I was not cut. 1848
Thackeray Bk. Snobs xli. 160 I was so cut last night.
meaning etymology
asked 3 hours ago
WS2
51.1k27111240
2
Is this a BrE artifact? Because I've never heard that usage.
– Robusto
3 hours ago
@Robusto I don’t know about in Britain, but this expression is common in Ireland, the half-cut variant in particular gets used a lot, often in a casual, jokey register.
– k1eran
3 hours ago
1
Never heard this either, but seeing “cut in the leg” from user240918 makes me think it could come from the staggering walk one might have if one’s leg was cut.
– Jim
3 hours ago
1
@Robusto It is everyday slang in Britain or Ireland. "He was behaving as if he was half-cut". Indeed as k1eran points out "half-cut" is used more often than simply "cut".
– WS2
2 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
favorite
up vote
4
down vote
favorite
The usage is confirmed as sense 8 of the adjectival cut per the OED - see below. However no etymology is given.
- slang. Drunk, intoxicated. 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 171 He is flaw'd, fluster'd, Cup shot, cut in the leg or back. 1699 B. E. New
Dict. Canting Crew Cut, Drunk; Deep Cut..Cut in the Leg or Back,
very drunk. 1760 C. Johnstone Chrysal I. ii. i. 137 Your
excellency was a little cut, but you broke up much the strongest of
the company. 1823 J. G. Lockhart Reginald Dalton I. i. vii. 73 I'm
sure we had not much more than a bottle a-piece..I was not cut. 1848
Thackeray Bk. Snobs xli. 160 I was so cut last night.
meaning etymology
asked 3 hours ago
WS2
51.1k27111240
The usage is confirmed as sense 8 of the adjectival cut per the OED - see below. However no etymology is given.
- slang. Drunk, intoxicated. 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 171 He is flaw'd, fluster'd, Cup shot, cut in the leg or back. 1699 B. E. New
Dict. Canting Crew Cut, Drunk; Deep Cut..Cut in the Leg or Back,
very drunk. 1760 C. Johnstone Chrysal I. ii. i. 137 Your
excellency was a little cut, but you broke up much the strongest of
the company. 1823 J. G. Lockhart Reginald Dalton I. i. vii. 73 I'm
sure we had not much more than a bottle a-piece..I was not cut. 1848
Thackeray Bk. Snobs xli. 160 I was so cut last night.
meaning etymology
meaning etymology
asked 3 hours ago
WS2
51.1k27111240
asked 3 hours ago
WS2
51.1k27111240
asked 3 hours ago
WS2
51.1k27111240
asked 3 hours ago
WS2
51.1k27111240
asked 3 hours ago
WS2
51.1k27111240
51.1k27111240
2
Is this a BrE artifact? Because I've never heard that usage.
– Robusto
3 hours ago
@Robusto I don’t know about in Britain, but this expression is common in Ireland, the half-cut variant in particular gets used a lot, often in a casual, jokey register.
– k1eran
3 hours ago
1
Never heard this either, but seeing “cut in the leg” from user240918 makes me think it could come from the staggering walk one might have if one’s leg was cut.
– Jim
3 hours ago
1
@Robusto It is everyday slang in Britain or Ireland. "He was behaving as if he was half-cut". Indeed as k1eran points out "half-cut" is used more often than simply "cut".
– WS2
2 hours ago
add a comment |
2
Is this a BrE artifact? Because I've never heard that usage.
– Robusto
3 hours ago
@Robusto I don’t know about in Britain, but this expression is common in Ireland, the half-cut variant in particular gets used a lot, often in a casual, jokey register.
– k1eran
3 hours ago
1
Never heard this either, but seeing “cut in the leg” from user240918 makes me think it could come from the staggering walk one might have if one’s leg was cut.
– Jim
3 hours ago
1
@Robusto It is everyday slang in Britain or Ireland. "He was behaving as if he was half-cut". Indeed as k1eran points out "half-cut" is used more often than simply "cut".
– WS2
2 hours ago
2
2
Is this a BrE artifact? Because I've never heard that usage.
– Robusto
3 hours ago
Is this a BrE artifact? Because I've never heard that usage.
– Robusto
3 hours ago
@Robusto I don’t know about in Britain, but this expression is common in Ireland, the half-cut variant in particular gets used a lot, often in a casual, jokey register.
– k1eran
3 hours ago
@Robusto I don’t know about in Britain, but this expression is common in Ireland, the half-cut variant in particular gets used a lot, often in a casual, jokey register.
– k1eran
3 hours ago
1
1
Never heard this either, but seeing “cut in the leg” from user240918 makes me think it could come from the staggering walk one might have if one’s leg was cut.
– Jim
3 hours ago
Never heard this either, but seeing “cut in the leg” from user240918 makes me think it could come from the staggering walk one might have if one’s leg was cut.
– Jim
3 hours ago
1
1
@Robusto It is everyday slang in Britain or Ireland. "He was behaving as if he was half-cut". Indeed as k1eran points out "half-cut" is used more often than simply "cut".
– WS2
2 hours ago
@Robusto It is everyday slang in Britain or Ireland. "He was behaving as if he was half-cut". Indeed as k1eran points out "half-cut" is used more often than simply "cut".
– WS2
2 hours ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
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It appears to be a short for “cut in the back/leg” as suggested by Green’s Dictionary of Slang:
cut adj.1
- [abbr. cut in the back under cut v.2 ]
- drunk; thus half-cut adj.2
cut in the back (adj.) (also cut in the eye, ...leg) [fig. use of SE]
very drunk.
1650 [UK] *Eighth Liberal Science n.p.: No man must call a Good-fellow Drunkard [...] But if at any time they spie that defect in another, they may without any forfeit or just exceptions taken, say, He is Foxt, He is Flaw’d, He is Fluster’d, He is Suttle, Cupshot, Cut in the Leg or Back=, He hath seen the French King, He hath swallowed an Hair or a Taven-Token, he hath whipt the Cat, He hath been at the Scriveners and learned to make Indentures, He hath bit his Grannam, or is bit by a Barn Weasel.
Also, from Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang:
Cut adjective [18th century and still in use] drunk (abbreviation for Cut In The Leg, a facetious euphemism for being staggering drunk).
(www.wordwizard.com)
And from The Social Historian, in the list of 17th century euphemisms for being drunk, you have:
To have cut your leg.
so the idea appears to be from the effect of alcohol on the way you walk, as if your legs were “cut” that is unable to support you.
(www.merriam-webster.com/images)
answered 3 hours ago
user240918
24.5k967147
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
2
down vote
It appears to be a short for “cut in the back/leg” as suggested by Green’s Dictionary of Slang:
cut adj.1
- [abbr. cut in the back under cut v.2 ]
- drunk; thus half-cut adj.2
cut in the back (adj.) (also cut in the eye, ...leg) [fig. use of SE]
very drunk.
1650 [UK] *Eighth Liberal Science n.p.: No man must call a Good-fellow Drunkard [...] But if at any time they spie that defect in another, they may without any forfeit or just exceptions taken, say, He is Foxt, He is Flaw’d, He is Fluster’d, He is Suttle, Cupshot, Cut in the Leg or Back=, He hath seen the French King, He hath swallowed an Hair or a Taven-Token, he hath whipt the Cat, He hath been at the Scriveners and learned to make Indentures, He hath bit his Grannam, or is bit by a Barn Weasel.
Also, from Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang:
Cut adjective [18th century and still in use] drunk (abbreviation for Cut In The Leg, a facetious euphemism for being staggering drunk).
(www.wordwizard.com)
And from The Social Historian, in the list of 17th century euphemisms for being drunk, you have:
To have cut your leg.
so the idea appears to be from the effect of alcohol on the way you walk, as if your legs were “cut” that is unable to support you.
(www.merriam-webster.com/images)
answered 3 hours ago
user240918
24.5k967147
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
It appears to be a short for “cut in the back/leg” as suggested by Green’s Dictionary of Slang:
cut adj.1
- [abbr. cut in the back under cut v.2 ]
- drunk; thus half-cut adj.2
cut in the back (adj.) (also cut in the eye, ...leg) [fig. use of SE]
very drunk.
1650 [UK] *Eighth Liberal Science n.p.: No man must call a Good-fellow Drunkard [...] But if at any time they spie that defect in another, they may without any forfeit or just exceptions taken, say, He is Foxt, He is Flaw’d, He is Fluster’d, He is Suttle, Cupshot, Cut in the Leg or Back=, He hath seen the French King, He hath swallowed an Hair or a Taven-Token, he hath whipt the Cat, He hath been at the Scriveners and learned to make Indentures, He hath bit his Grannam, or is bit by a Barn Weasel.
Also, from Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang:
Cut adjective [18th century and still in use] drunk (abbreviation for Cut In The Leg, a facetious euphemism for being staggering drunk).
(www.wordwizard.com)
And from The Social Historian, in the list of 17th century euphemisms for being drunk, you have:
To have cut your leg.
so the idea appears to be from the effect of alcohol on the way you walk, as if your legs were “cut” that is unable to support you.
(www.merriam-webster.com/images)
answered 3 hours ago
user240918
24.5k967147
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
It appears to be a short for “cut in the back/leg” as suggested by Green’s Dictionary of Slang:
cut adj.1
- [abbr. cut in the back under cut v.2 ]
- drunk; thus half-cut adj.2
cut in the back (adj.) (also cut in the eye, ...leg) [fig. use of SE]
very drunk.
1650 [UK] *Eighth Liberal Science n.p.: No man must call a Good-fellow Drunkard [...] But if at any time they spie that defect in another, they may without any forfeit or just exceptions taken, say, He is Foxt, He is Flaw’d, He is Fluster’d, He is Suttle, Cupshot, Cut in the Leg or Back=, He hath seen the French King, He hath swallowed an Hair or a Taven-Token, he hath whipt the Cat, He hath been at the Scriveners and learned to make Indentures, He hath bit his Grannam, or is bit by a Barn Weasel.
Also, from Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang:
Cut adjective [18th century and still in use] drunk (abbreviation for Cut In The Leg, a facetious euphemism for being staggering drunk).
(www.wordwizard.com)
And from The Social Historian, in the list of 17th century euphemisms for being drunk, you have:
To have cut your leg.
so the idea appears to be from the effect of alcohol on the way you walk, as if your legs were “cut” that is unable to support you.
(www.merriam-webster.com/images)
answered 3 hours ago
user240918
24.5k967147
It appears to be a short for “cut in the back/leg” as suggested by Green’s Dictionary of Slang:
cut adj.1
- [abbr. cut in the back under cut v.2 ]
- drunk; thus half-cut adj.2
cut in the back (adj.) (also cut in the eye, ...leg) [fig. use of SE]
very drunk.
1650 [UK] *Eighth Liberal Science n.p.: No man must call a Good-fellow Drunkard [...] But if at any time they spie that defect in another, they may without any forfeit or just exceptions taken, say, He is Foxt, He is Flaw’d, He is Fluster’d, He is Suttle, Cupshot, Cut in the Leg or Back=, He hath seen the French King, He hath swallowed an Hair or a Taven-Token, he hath whipt the Cat, He hath been at the Scriveners and learned to make Indentures, He hath bit his Grannam, or is bit by a Barn Weasel.
Also, from Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang:
Cut adjective [18th century and still in use] drunk (abbreviation for Cut In The Leg, a facetious euphemism for being staggering drunk).
(www.wordwizard.com)
And from The Social Historian, in the list of 17th century euphemisms for being drunk, you have:
To have cut your leg.
so the idea appears to be from the effect of alcohol on the way you walk, as if your legs were “cut” that is unable to support you.
(www.merriam-webster.com/images)
answered 3 hours ago
user240918
24.5k967147
edited 1 hour ago
answered 3 hours ago
user240918
24.5k967147
answered 3 hours ago
user240918
24.5k967147
answered 3 hours ago
user240918
24.5k967147
24.5k967147
add a comment |
add a comment |
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2
Is this a BrE artifact? Because I've never heard that usage.
– Robusto
3 hours ago
@Robusto I don’t know about in Britain, but this expression is common in Ireland, the half-cut variant in particular gets used a lot, often in a casual, jokey register.
– k1eran
3 hours ago
1
Never heard this either, but seeing “cut in the leg” from user240918 makes me think it could come from the staggering walk one might have if one’s leg was cut.
– Jim
3 hours ago
1
@Robusto It is everyday slang in Britain or Ireland. "He was behaving as if he was half-cut". Indeed as k1eran points out "half-cut" is used more often than simply "cut".
– WS2
2 hours ago