tight as a tick

[Lee Murrah]

In East Texas where I grew up in the 1950s, "tight as a tick" refers
tp what we called "dog ticks".  These are regular ticks that stay on a
do so long that they become engorged with blood and are the size of
small berries.  The surface of a dog tick is very tight indeed, much
like an overinflated balloon.  Speaking of ticks, we called baby ticks
that were almost too small to see "seed ticks."

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