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Phrase "tired as a newt"


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What kind of job vs. what kind of work? | someone greasing next to me?
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Phrase "tired as a newt" Thu Jun 05, 2008 3:24 am  Phrase "tired as a newt"		  
MrPedantic wrote:
1. As pissed as a newt = drunk
2. Tired and emotional = drunk (euphemism)

Thus:

3. As tired as a newt = drunk (inverted euphemism)

("Inverted" because on "newt" you reinterpret "tired" as "pissed".)

e.g. (from Google):

4. Being as tired as a newt I went to my tent and was asleep in no time at all.

The reader is expected to understand that this was a special kind of tiredness.

MrP

Almost all of this would be lost on a North American reader. It's obviously local British slang.
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Phrase "tired as a newt" Thu Jun 05, 2008 3:42 am  Phrase "tired as a newt"		  
I see. Certainly if an American says something like 'get pissed/pissed off/pissed at', they would all refer to the feeling of anger. BTW, I am not very sure but could 'piss off' also mean 'get away/lost'? Sorry for all these bad languages.
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Phrase "tired as a newt" Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:24 am  Phrase "tired as a newt"		  
Haihao wrote:
Just to bring owls to Athens

Uhm... so there are many owls in Athens? (I'm asking this seriously because I really don't know. (never heard that Athens is famous for owls Very Happy )
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Phrase "tired as a newt" Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:42 am  Phrase "tired as a newt"		  
It's an idiom, nessie. Owl was the symbol of Athens.
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Phrase "tired as a newt" Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:47 am  Phrase "tired as a newt"		  
Athens was supposed to be the seat of wisdom, since the Western philosophers of ancient times lived there. In Western folklore, the owl is supposed to be a "wise" animal, so bringing owls to Athens means you're bringing wisdom to the place where people are already wise. It means that you bring something to a place where it's not needed.

It's more common to say "bring coals to Newcastle", or since most Americans don't know anything about Newcastle, we say "bring refrigerators to Eskimos".

We also use that last one to describe someone who is very persuasive or is a very good salesperson: "He could sell refrigerators to Eskimos!"
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Phrase "tired as a newt" Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:55 am  Phrase "tired as a newt"		  
Eskimos are supposed to live in area(s) cold enough. Smile I suppose Newcastle is a city in Engliand where a lot of coals were traded?
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Phrase "tired as a newt" Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:01 pm  Phrase "tired as a newt"		  
Haihao wrote:
Eskimos are supposed to live in area(s) cold enough. Smile I suppose Newcastle is a city in Engliand where a lot of coals were traded?

Coal was mined near Newcastle.
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Phrase "tired as a newt" Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:07 pm  Phrase "tired as a newt"		  
Jamie (K) wrote:
Coal was mined near Newcastle.

I see. That figures. Thank you!
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Phrase "tired as a newt" Fri Jun 06, 2008 0:41 am  Phrase "tired as a newt"		  
Jamie K wrote:
It's obviously local British slang.

Yes; and probably "pissed as a newt" would be the most immediately comprehensible, to BrE speakers, and "tired as a newt" the least.

Haihao wrote:
could 'piss off' also mean 'get away/lost'? Sorry for all these bad languages.

In BrE, yes. It can also mean "I strongly doubt what you have just told me!".

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Phrase "tired as a newt" Fri Jun 06, 2008 2:51 am  Phrase "tired as a newt"		  
MrPedantic wrote:
Haihao wrote:
could 'piss off' also mean 'get away/lost'? Sorry for all these bad languages.

In BrE, yes. It can also mean "I strongly doubt what you have just told me!".

An American would never be able to get that last meaning from it unless specifically schooled in British local slang.
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Phrase "tired as a newt" Fri Jun 06, 2008 15:42 pm  Phrase "tired as a newt"		  
Jamie (K) wrote:
MrPedantic wrote:
Haihao wrote:
could 'piss off' also mean 'get away/lost'? Sorry for all these bad languages.

In BrE, yes. It can also mean "I strongly doubt what you have just told me!".

An American would never be able to get that last meaning from it unless specifically schooled in British local slang.

Really? Would you never hear someone say stop it, get away with ya or f*ck off to imply that you don't believe what the speaker's just said?
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Phrase "tired as a newt" Fri Jun 06, 2008 19:30 pm  Phrase "tired as a newt"		  
Ralf wrote:
Jamie (K) wrote:
MrPedantic wrote:
Haihao wrote:
could 'piss off' also mean 'get away/lost'? Sorry for all these bad languages.

In BrE, yes. It can also mean "I strongly doubt what you have just told me!".

An American would never be able to get that last meaning from it unless specifically schooled in British local slang.

Really? Would you never hear someone say stop it, get away with ya or f*ck off to imply that you don't believe what the speaker's just said?

Yes, and we also say, "Get outa here!" when we don't believe someone. But because "piss off" means to make someone angry, saying, "Piss off!" when you don't believe someone doesn't make any sense to our ears. It sounds like the person is saying, "Go make someone angry!"
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