Boiled as an (old) owl
Miss Perspicacia Tick
the rare hot summer days we have in this country. I never did get around to
asking him the origin of the phrase; my grandmother surmised that it was
something he picked up when he was in the RAF during the war (or,
subsequently, in the Arnheim PoW camp after he was shot down in '42 or '43),
but I'm not sure I buy into that.
I don't know much about his origins, I'm not even sure where he was born
(though I reckon it was Kingston-upon-Thames).
The thing is, the only meaning I know of for the phrase (without the old) is
as a euphemism for 'pissed as a newt'.
Has anyone else come across it being used in this context (i.e. to mean
'extremely hot')?
Having said that, I'm not sure why it should be a euphemism for 'drunk'
either...
Thanks for any enlightenment.
Sarah
--
In memory of MS MVP Alex Nichol: http://www.dts-l.org/
Phil C.
I haven't noticed the expression. Partridge gives "Drunk as a boiled
owl" (early 1880s). The origin's uncertain but he quotes a suggestion
that it may be from "As drunk as Abel Boyle" (Who he?)
I wonder if two images have become confused - owl and fowl. An old
fowl would need a lot of boiling to edible - hence the "hot" meaning.
OTOH a boiled owl might just be a nice image of being daft - they're
scrawny little things under all those fluffy feathers.
There are so many bizarre expressions for drunkenness (including
comparisons to animals) that I wonder if they're deliberately made up
to be impenetrable.
--
Phil C.
Paul Burke
> I wonder if two images have become confused - owl and fowl. An old
> fowl would need a lot of boiling to edible
Any connection to the Scottish 'fou' meaning drunk, or could it be a
spoonerism for 'oiled bowel'?
Paul Burke
Odysseus
I believe the Scots word is "fu'" (sc. "full"), although the
apostrophe is sometimes omitted.
--
Odysseus
Pat Durkin
"Phil C." <philsto...@fsmail.net> wrote in message
news:q8vo8157dbgo5nd61...@4ax.com...
Related to the ''boiled" expression is "stewed" or "stewed to the gills",
which gets out of stewed chicken and into another kind of animal.
John Dean
Perhaps they're made up by people too drunk to know what they're saying?
OED contributes:
"boiled:
c. Intoxicated. slang. Also phr. as drunk as a boiled owl.
[1885 Referee 31 May 3/3 Twiss+had just the boiled-owlish appearance
that is gained by working all night in a printing-office.] 1886 J. A.
Porter Sks. Yale Life 156 There is a balm for a headache caused by last
night's debauch to have it said you were 'slightly cheered' or 'slewed'
or 'boiled'. 1892 Daily Tel. 12 Dec. 5/4 The expression, 'Intoxicated
as a boiled owl', is a gross libel upon a highly respectable teetotal
bird. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 300 He brought him home as drunk as a boiled
owl. 1928 Amer. Speech IV. 102 Expressions synonymous with or
circumlocutory for 'drunk'+blotto, boiled. 1940 'H. Pentecost' 24th
Horse (1951) v. 45 He's boiled to the ears."
--
John Dean
Oxford
Mike Lyle
And somewhere in _Stalky_ Kipling gives us "as screwed as an owl". I
wonder why owls, in a competitive strand of somethingography so wise,
are also incapable? As it were: "Dash it, Pongo, you owl! That was my
bally foot!"
--
Mike.
Phil C.
<mike_l...@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>And somewhere in _Stalky_ Kipling gives us "as screwed as an owl". I
>wonder why owls, in a competitive strand of somethingography so wise,
>are also incapable? As it were: "Dash it, Pongo, you owl! That was my
>bally foot!"
I expect the Fat Owl of the Remove had something to do with it.
Owls were considered wise because the Little Owl nested in the temple
of Athene, goddess of wisdom. (I'm never sure whether to write Little
Owl or little owl for the species. Neither seems satisfactory.) Owls
aren't actually very bright as birds go.
--
Phil C.
the Omrud
Well, dur. Owl couldn't even master the simple notice, such as:
PLES RING IF AN RNSER IS REQIRD
PLEZ CNOKE IF AN RNSR IS NOT REQID
which had to be written out by Christopher Robin. Owl could only
manage "Wol".
--
David
=====
replace usenet with the
Mike Lyle
> On Thu, 19 May 2005 19:51:54 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
> <mike_l...@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> And somewhere in _Stalky_ Kipling gives us "as screwed as an owl".
I
>> wonder why owls, in a competitive strand of somethingography so
wise,
>> are also incapable? As it were: "Dash it, Pongo, you owl! That was
my
>> bally foot!"
>
> I expect the Fat Owl of the Remove had something to do with it.
I think it must predate Billy B, who's a 20C character. But
Partridge's earliest meaning is "prostitute", and he doesn't give the
"silly clot" meaning.
[...]
--
Mike.
CDB
"the Omrud" <usenet...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1cf705b58...@news.ntlworld.com...
A canard. Bthuthdy. CDB
the Omrud
Ducks aside, you're right of course. It's mine next week.
Molly Mockford
wrote in <MPG.1cf705b58...@news.ntlworld.com>:
>Well, dur. Owl couldn't even master the simple notice, such as:
>
>PLES RING IF AN RNSER IS REQIRD
>PLEZ CNOKE IF AN RNSR IS NOT REQID
Extraordinary, really. Any Nigerian scammer can cope with English to
that standard.
--
Molly Mockford
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin
(My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.)
CDB
No need to duck. Congratulations, and best wishes for many hipy papy
returns of the day. CDB
Miss Perspicacia Tick
Thanks for the discussion. Not quite the replies I was expecting (I got the
'drunk' bit answered, but I still don't know why it came to mean 'extremely
hot' as I can find no usage of the expression in that context).
Another one of his little mysteries that he's taken to the grave...
Thanks all,
Sarah
P.S. Mine was last Sunday (15th). ;o)
Brian {Hamilton Kelly}
mike_l...@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk "Mike Lyle" wrote:
> I think it must predate Billy B, who's a 20C character. But
> Partridge's earliest meaning is "prostitute", and he doesn't give the
> "silly clot" meaning.
IME, Partridge's earliest meaning for practically /everything/ is
"prostitute" :-)
[Hmm: "world's oldest slang".]
--
Brian {Hamilton Kelly} b...@dsl.co.uk
"Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu
le loisir de la faire plus courte."
Blaise Pascal, /Lettres Provinciales/, 1657
Phil C.
{Hamilton Kelly}) wrote:
>On Thursday, in article <3f4asqF...@individual.net>
> mike_l...@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk "Mike Lyle" wrote:
>
>> I think it must predate Billy B, who's a 20C character. But
>> Partridge's earliest meaning is "prostitute", and he doesn't give the
>> "silly clot" meaning.
>
>IME, Partridge's earliest meaning for practically /everything/ is
>"prostitute" :-)
>
>[Hmm: "world's oldest slang".]
Be fair. There are a few words in English that have never meant
prostitute, male genitalia, female genitalia, copulation or anything
to do with executions. Mighty few, though, mighty few.
--
Phil C.