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

[Jonathan Lighter]

 "Ate up" is also a disparaging military term roughly synonymous with "gung ho" in the negative sense: overly enthusiastic; brainwashed by military propaganda."

What appears to be the earliest discovered example is from Usenet, rec.puzzles, "Lisence [sic] Tag," on Jan. 23, 1995:

"Real life puzzle: What does this license tag mean   RU8UPTO"

The poster appears to have a Navy-related address. "Ate up" also appears in Carson Stroud's account of the Gulf War, _Iron Bravo_ (1997).

"Ate up with it" can refer to unseemly enthusiasm for just about anything.


JL

Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Benjamin Zimmer
Subject: Re: Slang "(be) ate up" (= be a bit of a dingbat)?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Tue, 19 Jul 2005 10:50:03 -0500, Cohen, Gerald Leonard
wrote:

>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?

These entries on Walter Rader's Online Slang Dictionary look relevant:

-----
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wrader/slang/a.html

*ate up* adj
1. not "squared away" (i.e. not organized or prepared: a mess.) If someone
does something poorly, they're "ate up". Origin: the United States
military. In the example phrase, "soup sandwich" is an example of
something messy. ("You're all ate up like a soup sandwich!") Submitted by
Nate Marx, Manassas, VA, USA, 26-03-1998.
2. strange, stupid; WEIRD. ("Don't worry about Eric, he's just ate up.")
Submitted by Pekka Pennanen, Finland, 6-21-1997.
3. interested, to the point of near obsession. ("He's ate up about the
military.")
4. burnt out or exhausted from the use of illegal drugs, usually ecstasy.
("He's really ate up from the rave last night.") Submitted by Maestro,
Newark, DE, USA, 17-04-1998.

*ate up with the dumb ass* adj
1. strange, stupid; WEIRD. Origin: American rednecks. ("Don't pay any
attention to him, he's ate up with the dumb ass.") Submitted by Robert
Wren, Round Rock, TX, USA, 13-03-1998.
-----

Sense #4 is attested on other slang lists:

-----
http://www.dcnites.com/files/dictionary.php
ATE UP: A male or female who has done way too many drugs. These people
look like they have been beaten in the face. Usually, they cannot complete
sentences and don't understand anything you do or say, while they are
totlly sober. USES: He is so ate-up. Man, she is ate-up.
-----
http://www.addictions.org/slang.htm#A
Ate up - someone that's always wasted
-----


--Ben Zimmer


---------------------------------
Yahoo! Mail
 Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour