Slang "(be) ate up" (= be a bit of a dingbat)?

Cohen, Gerald Leonard gcohen at UMR.EDU
Tue Jul 19 15:50:03 UTC 2005


Yesterday I was asked if I'm familiar with the (possibly only local/possibly only Ozark) expression "ate up" as an adjective.  The meaning is roughly "be a bit of a dingbat (at least temporarily)." I asked for an example in context, and was told, IIRC, "I'm ate up, done messed everything up."

 Anyway, I had never heard of it. I see it's not in HDAS and I don't have DARE handy.  Is anyone else familiar with the expression? And would anyone know what its original reference was?

Gerald Cohen
Rolla, Missouri
(btw, pronounced RAHLuh, not ROHL-uh)



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