Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Done in

 Just came back from Left Coast Crime "Trouble in Tucson" conference, where I had a wonderful time. Kudos to the conference organizers and volunteers and a special whoop and holler to all the "Lefty" winners and finalists!  👏 👍  It was great to catch up with people I know from the mystery world, and to meet and chat with new readers and writers. (My TBR pile underwent a major expansion due to this trip!) I'm back home now and whew! I'm all done in.

Which leads to the Slang-o-rama post of the week...

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Done in, meaning "exhausted, very tired," dates from early 1900s, according to my hardcover copy of The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer (copyright 1997... yeah, I've had this a while!). Turning to the internet, I found an entry on Green's Dictionary of Slang (which is quite an awesome reference for all things slang, btw), which included the following definitions for done in, and different dates for their first appearance.

• very tired, exhausted (also done out): 1900
• beyond further effort: 1912
• dead: 1916
• intoxicated by a drug: 2013

Well, I'm definitely not dead yet and not intoxicated by a drug (unless caffeine counts?)... but the other two definitions apply. I think I'll cut this entry short, rest a bit, and contemplate what to do with the rest of the day.

Feeling done in: Shall I do the laundry or make a bowl of popcorn and binge on Netflix?
John Singer Sargent, Nonchaloir (Repose), 1911, National Gallery of Art

Albuquerque!

 Slang-o-rama is taking a week off while I'm at the (in-person!) Left Coast Crime mystery convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

I'll be appearing on the panel No Skirting the Issue: Female Protagonists in Historical Mysteries along with authors Anne Louise Bannon (moderator), Mariah Fredericks, Dianne Freeman, and Erica Ruth Neubauer. The panel runs Saturday, April 9, 2:45–3:30 p.m. (You can view all the panels for the conference here.)

I will be "back on deck" with more idioms, slang, and fun stuff on April 13. In the meantime, The Online Etymological Dictionary has this bit about the origin of the word Albuquerque and here's a little musical interlude for you: Neil Young's Albuquerque from the album "Tonight's the Night" from 1975 (egads, talk about historical!).