"tight as a tick"

[Page Stephens]

My grandmother who would be 104 now used to say,
full as a tick.

She was from southern Illinois.

Page Stephens

----- Original Message -----
From: "Margaret Lee" <mlee303 at YAHOO.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 6:28 AM
Subject: Re: "tight as a tick"


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Margaret Lee <mlee303 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "tight as a tick"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> My mother, who died in 2001 at the age of 91, used this expression when
> she had had her fill of a good meal  and the host/hostess offered her
> more, to indicate that she could not possibly eat any more: "No, thank
> you; I'm tight as a tick."
>
>
> Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
> On Apr 10, 2005, at 9:51 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
>> Subject: "tight as a tick"
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --------
>>
>> 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
>>
>
> This looks like another "hypocorrection." For as far back as I can
> remember, "tight," among other meanings, has meant both "friendly" and
> "drunk," but "tight as a tick [filled to bursting with its victim's
> blood]" has meant only "filled in like manner with alcoholic beverage,"
> "drunk as a skunk." I wonder whether the hand gesture corresponding to
> "very close friends" will also be affected.
>
> -Wilson
>
>
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