"tight as a tick"

[sagehen]

 Jonathan Lighter wrote:

>> Mike Evans, author of _American Prophecies_  and described as a
>> "Mideast analyst" on Fox News, has just explained the nature of the
>> relationship between Prime Minister Sharon and President Bush as
>> follows :
>>
>>          "These two are tight as a tick !"
>>
>> He meant they're "very friendly" - not "very drunk," which is what the
>> phrase usually means.
>>
>> Google, however, shows that "tight as a tick" can emphasize virtually
>> any idiomatic
>> sense of "tight."
>>
>>
>> JL
 ~~~~~~~~
While the figurative  use of "tight as a tick" probably does usually mean
drunk as a skunk, the non-figurative tick it alludes to could be one of
several things.  The bloodsucking sort are famously difficult to dislodge,
since they burrow into the host's skin.  That tightness seems just as
likely to me as the filled-to-bursting tightness.  Another kind of tick
tightness could be that of a straw tick: a mattress or pad tightly filled
with straw or other material.
A. Murie