I was trying to track down the origin of the phrase "tie one on." Not much luck but this is what I came up with:
From "The Wordsworth Book of Euphemism" by Judith S. Neaman and Carole G. Silver (Wordsworth Reference, New York, 1983, 1990) -- "Tie one on, to - To get drunk. (Eric) Partridge suggests that this expression is derived from 'hang one on' (ca. 1935), which originated in the United States and was later adopted in Canada. It is clear that a 'hangover' -- more politely, 'the morning after' -- is the miserable memento of having 'hung' or 'tied one on.' We are uncertain as to why drinking is described as tieing, hanging or belting..."
: Some sites claim that the phrase "tie one on" dates back to the wild west here in the US in the 1800's where a cowboy would have to tie up his horse to a hitching post before he could go into the saloon and get drunk. I don't think so!
: The OED compares "tie one on" to the British slang phrase "tie a bun on," also meaning "to get drunk." Maybe some of our UK friends could shed some light on this.
a slang phrase meaning "to get drunk." I can't say that his theory definitely isn't true, simply because no one knows for sure what the origin is. And it is true that, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the first recorded use in print of the phrase comes from a book called "Western Folklore." But that book was printed in 1951, and if the phrase had indeed been in common use in the Old West, it is difficult to imagine that it would not have cropped up at least once in the extensive body of "cowboy literature" written before the 1950s.
The one clue we have about the origin of "tie one on" only deepens the mystery. The OED compares "tie one on" to the British slang phrase "tie a bun on," also meaning "to get drunk." Unfortunately (I seem to be saying that a lot today, don't I?), no one seems to have the vaguest idea where "tie a bun on," which appeared around 1901, came from, or what a bun could possibly have to do with getting drunk. It's enough to drive a fellow to drink.
To "tie one on" means to drink for the purpose of getting drunk, especially when one is currently still drunk or hungover from a previous drinking session, thus having something to "tie one on" to. Could be considered the drinking equivalent of chain smoking.
25 comments:
Hi there, Interesting piece you have here. I as well was looking for the origin or "tie one on" only to yield similar results. The "tie a bun on"phrase was interesting. It could be related to the habit of people eating bread before or after drinking to soak up the alcohol. Perhaps by tying a bun onto something, a tree, or post etc... the drinker could return to that spot and consume the bread to sober up a tad before returning home. However the likelyhood of that being the case is pretty slim. I would assume the cowboy or chain drinking theorys are more accurate.
Just discussing this with my friends yesterday. No one had any ideas until we met up with another friend, from Tennessee. We asked him if he had any idea and his response was, "Oh sure, tie one on -- like a feed bag that you tie on to your horse."
This makes sense to me -- in New Orleans, for Mardi Gras they sell "feed bags" you hang around your neck and it holds your beer. Your hands are free but you are never without alcohol in close proximity. Hope this helps!
I understand that this phrase may be puzzling to some. Having spent time studying indigenous cultures of North America, I can tell you that this phrase comes from the now-lost Native American practice of lashing a hand-woven basket to a tree. The basket would be filled with a mash (similar to that used to brew beer) containing various grains. The grains would ferment over time and mix with rain water to create a delicious barley-type wine. After approximately two months, the male members of the tribe would return to the tree, take down the tub of what is now liquor, and drink their fill. They would then return to the village having "tied one on." Through what accounts we have, passed on through the oral tradition, the men would then lie to the female members of the tribe about where they had been. The men would return with small game and pretend that they had been hunting. Thus, the phrase to tie a "bun" on refers to the alibi of stringing a hare or wild rabbit to a tree to drain its blood.
Was just told that "tie a bun on" came out of British theater. Getting drunk after performances, a drunk male might raid wardrobe and come back dressed in women's clothing. The "bun" was a wig with the hair tied in a bun. It was the theater equivalent of wearing a a drunk wearing a lampshade.
I always thought that "tie one on" meant that you would be too drunk to hold your beer, thus you would have to tie it on.
Of course a precursor to Edward 40 hands
Possibly to 'tie one on' would mean to tie another knot on the rope. This was a method for keeping track of time by the number of knots. The phrase would be said to note another night of drinking.
Farmers would get so drunk at the bar they needed to tie them self to there horse so they didn't fall off when they passed out on the way home. it was cruise control the horse knew the way home.
To "Tie One On" is to set out to get drunk. A wise cowboy might think to use his belt to fast himself to the barstool before "tieing one on. Likewise a "belt" of liguior is an up shot of about 1/4 cup of straight booze...it'll curl your toes and behove you to have used your belt to secure yourself to your barstool prior to consumption.
Tie one on simply means to drink alcohol before the hangover from the previous nights drinking where's off.
Jan Freeman Boston.com makes a convincing stab at say "tying one on" refers to extending the "night cap" from one drink to many. Though ultimately the article is equivocal and also mentions many of the suggestions here.
For example this passage from Thomas Chandler Haliburton's 1843 "The Atache":
"‘What a dreadful awful looking thing a night-cap is without a tassel, ain’t it? Oh! you must put a tassel on it, and that is another glass. Well then, what is the use of a night-cap, if it has a tassel on it, but has no string, it will slip off your head the very first turn you take; and that is another glass you know. But one string won’t tie a cap;…you must have two strings to it, and that brings one glass more. Well then, what is the use of two strings if they ain’t fastened? If you want to keep the cap on, it must be tied…"
Hangover refers to the cowboys being hung over hitching post after the were booted out for being too drunk or sick, thus hung over to recoup
I think there are a couple possibilities. Either its a code, that caught on. Like in the past where every it came from the guys would say "let's go tie one on" in front of the wife or boss. It could also be just drunk talk. We've all spoken or heard it, gibberish that's hard to make out or clear speech that doesn't mean anything to anyone except the person saying it. In this scenario, a drunk person for some reason said " I'm gonna go tie one on" and then drank. Maybe afterwards he actually went and tied something on to something but to the observers, who repeated the idiom, he appeared to be referring to drinking. Or a similar scenario except with a foreign language. A Chinese guy is drunk and saying Taiwan, or any other combination of a drunk's words being translated, in to; tie one one, and then being used in that context, repeated and spreading like wild fire.
Ok, ok... This is an expression that I have known about for many years. Oddly the part about tying on a bun is valid. As a sort of barometer for drunk driving back in the old days, it was often said that if a man could successfully walk from the saloon to his horse and buggy with a roll or a bun on top of his head, then he was indeed sober enough to command his team. However, if he was so inebriated that he had to "tie one on" (a bun) to keep it from falling, then he was indeed too drunk to drive. I hope that answers some questions out there. I wish I could cite my references or give you something to go off of but I can't really tell you where I learned it.
Ok, ok... This is an expression that I have known about for many years. Oddly the part about tying on a bun is valid. As a sort of barometer for drunk driving back in the old days, it was often said that if a man could successfully walk from the saloon to his horse and buggy with a roll or a bun on top of his head, then he was indeed sober enough to command his team. However, if he was so inebriated that he had to "tie one on" (a bun) to keep it from falling, then he was indeed too drunk to drive. I hope that answers some questions out there. I wish I could cite my references or give you something to go off of but I can't really tell you where I learned it.
Tie one on is referring to tie ones belt to the bar rail so that they wouldn't fall backwards after becoming inebriated.
Not positive, but hangover might also come from passing out while still tied to the bar rail and hanging.
To "Tie one on" I was told came from getting drunks and then foolishly they would try to tie a ribbon or string to the horns of a bull!! - this would fit with the "Wild West" theory. John Luxford (England)
well a good London friend of mine regularly said he "tied one on" describing a good drinking session. I always thought it meant he tied one arm to the bar to prevent falling over!!
From 'word origins.com;
To “tie a bun on” as a euphemism for having a drink may perhaps (I put it no stronger than that) come from the annual hot cross bun ceremony held at the Widow’s Son pub in East London every year - I quote:
The Widow’s Son bun ceremony, in a Bromley-by-Bow pub, dates from the early 19th century, when the site of the pub was occupied by a cottage that was home to a widow and her only son.
The son went off to sea, promising he’d be home for Easter. So on Good Friday, the mother baked a hot cross bun, but her boy never returned, and she continued to bake a bun for him on every Good Friday until her own death.
When a pub was built on the site in the 1840s it was named The Widow’s Son; every Good Friday since, a sailor or Wren from the Royal Navy has been invited to place a bun in the net above the bar, for which he or she receives a pint of beer in payment.
Note that a pint is received in exchange for the bun - originally, according to a least two pub books in my collection (of around 150 - sad, or what?), the buns were strung up from a beam, rather than put into a net, and thus would have been tied on ...
A Wren, incidentally, for Leftpondians, is a member of the WRNS, or Women’s Royal Naval Service, which hasn’t actually existed since 1993 - I assume the writer of the piece above, which is dated September 2007, was trying to say “male and female navy sailors”.
I always thought there was a naval connection, and came to this site expecting to see confirmation of that. Not quite the case but but like many I've no idea where I heard what I heard! Convincing about the Widow's Son. Nothing about the phrase on their website.
My Dad told me the 'tie one on' saying had to do with the really old style condoms that had to be tied on with a little string or ribbon. So to tie one on meant to get ready for safe sex.
So, you're just totally guessing and basing your response on absolutely nothing...that's about as useful as a poopy flavored lollipop.
Before having dinner at Cristianna Campbell’s Tavern in Williamsburg, Ava, the waiter tied on large bibs on all of us at the table. He claimed that’s the origin of the phrase.
Before having dinner at Cristianna Campbell’s Tavern in Williamsburg, Ava, the waiter tied on large bibs on all of us at the table. He claimed that’s the origin of the phrase.
Nice post thanks for sharing with us..
If you have any requirement regarding App development like Android and iOS app development , so just click on link
Best UI/UX design companies in USA
Post a Comment