Not sure what happened to the month of March. It seems that it just arrived and now it's gone and, wow, I am all tuckered out.
Tuckered out is defined in John Stephen Farmer's Americanisms, Old and New (c. 1887) as "Wearied, tired out, fatigued."
The phrase has a definite Western ring to it, don't you think?
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However, it dates way before cattle-drives, wagon trains, and so on, and isn't even "of the West."
According to The Phrase Finder, "Tucker is a colloquial New England word, coined in the early 19th century, meaning 'become weary' and which ultimately derives from the Old English verb tuck, meaning 'punish; torment'." From more than a century-and-a-quarter earlier, Farmer in his Americanisms concurs, noting that the colloquialism "is most common in New England."
The Phrase Finder tracked the first appearance of tuckered out to this intriguing quote from the April 1839 Wisconsin Enquirer:
"I reckoned to have got to the tavern by sundown, but I haven't - as I'm prodigiously tuckered out."
The Historically Speaking website has a nice collection of quotes featuring tuckered out, starting in 1962 and going back to 1845. This post also suggests that the phrase might have been in use by 1820. I'd pursue that further, but, well, I'm tuckered out, so I'll leave it as an exercise to those with more energy than I have at the moment...
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| The #DivaMissMia demonstrates what it means to be tuckered out. Photo by Ann Parker |
Love the picture.
ReplyDeleteMy dog was very adept at showing how tuckered out she was, after a long day at the window anxiously awaiting her human's return. Of course, a breeze must have blown those black hairs on to the white couch. 🙃
Hi Liz,
ReplyDeleteOoooh, waiting at the window takes a lot of energy! Must replenish with a nap, right? ;-)
So, was the white couch "off limits" (theoretically)?
Well, yes. But ended up covered with comforter. Lol.
ReplyDeleteAh, she knows the rules and knows not to break them when you're home, eh?
ReplyDeleteComforter-cover... good idea, Liz! Our couches are draped with patterned sheets (long-haired cat, ya know).