totally not punch drunk

[yati]

Ahaha. I had always thought that "punch drunk" was a weird idiom, because how does one get drunk from punch? (Unless it's spiked, I suppose.) It never occurred to me in meant being, you know, punched in the face and ending up dizzy and concussed and all. It's one of those things that never made it to my "look it up in the dictionary" lists.

I eventually did look it up because it was in a fic, and the line went something like "he was literally punch drunk" and I was frowning at that line wondering how it could be literal.

The perils of English as a second language, I suppose. XD

Comments

[owlmoose]

Wow, I always thought it had to do with drinking punch also! Since punch drinks containing alcohol are quite traditional -- it's only more recently that they've become more associated with church socials and middle-school dances and other non-boozy events. But the real etymology actually makes a lot more sense. I love learning the real roots of saying like that.

[yati]

Oh, I didn't know that about punch! Actually, I don't even really know what "punch" is (another thing to look up in the dictionary -- it's amazing how much you assume you know from context, only to realise much later it doesn't really mean what you had thought it meant); it's not something people drink around here. Or maybe it's just called something else.

Etymology is fun!