(as) drunk as a fiddler
Extremely intoxicated from alcohol. You were as drunk as a fiddler last night, stumbling in here reeking of alcohol! I only meant to stay for one drink, but I wound up getting drunk as a fiddler. Do you remember last night at the pub at all? You got as drunk as a fiddler!
(as) drunk as a fiddler's bitch
rude slang Very drunk. Do you remember last night at the pub at all? You got as drunk as a fiddler's bitch! Help him get home, will ya? He started drinking whiskey, and now he's drunk as a fiddler's bitch. You were as drunk as a fiddler's bitch last night, stumbling in here reeking of alcohol!
(as) drunk as a skunk
slang Extremely intoxicated from alcohol. Do you remember last night at all? You were as drunk as a skunk! I only meant to stay for one drink, but I wound up getting drunk as a skunk. You were as drunk as a skunk last night, stumbling in here reeking of alcohol!
be (as) drunk as a fiddler
To be extremely intoxicated from alcohol. You were as drunk as a fiddler last night, stumbling in here reeking of alcohol! I only meant to stay for one drink—I don't know how I ended up being drunk as a fiddler! Do you remember last night at the pub at all? By the time I got there, you were already as drunk as a fiddler.
be (as) drunk as a fiddler's bitch
rude slang To be very drunk. Do you remember last night at all? You were drunk as a fiddler's bitch by the time you left the pub! Help him get home, will ya? He started drinking whiskey, and now he's drunk as a fiddler's bitch. You were as drunk as a fiddler's bitch last night, stumbling in here reeking of alcohol!
fiddler's bidding
An invitation given unexpectedly, usually or at the last-minute. No, I think she only invited me because I happened to call her. It's just fiddler's bidding. A: "They know about the party, so we have to invite them now." B: "Yeah, but they'll also know it's fiddler's bidding. Won't that make things more awkward?" Yes, I'm aware it's fiddler's bidding, but I couldn't turn him away at dinnertime!
fiddler's pay
obsolete An expression of gratitude and a gift of wine. You cannot just give him fiddler's pay for all his hard work. It certainly warrants fair wages. A: "You're OK with this fiddler's pay?" B: "Sure. It's not like I did that much work for them." I'm sorry, but fiddler's pay is unacceptable. I'm looking to be fairly—and monetarily—compensated for my efforts here.
pay the fiddler
To face, accept, or suffer repercussions for one's actions or words, especially that would be expected to incur punishment. (A less common version of "pay the piper.") After three nights of heavy drinking, I'm really going to be paying the fiddler come Monday morning! With the judge handing down the maximum possible sentence, this monster will be paying the fiddler for the rest of his life.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
drunk as a lord
Also,
drunk as a fiddler or skunk ;
falling-down or roaring drunk . Extremely intoxicated, as in
He came home drunk as a lord. The three similes have survived numerous others. The first was considered proverbial by the mid-1600s and presumably alludes to the fact that noblemen drank more than commoners (because they could afford to). The
fiddler alludes to the practice of plying musicians with alcohol (sometimes instead of pay), whereas
skunk, dating from the early 1900s, was undoubtedly chosen for the rhyme. The most graphic variant alludes to someone too drunk to keep his or her balance, as in
He couldn't make it up the stairs; be was falling-down drunk. And
roaring drunk, alluding to being extremely noisy as well as intoxicated, was first recorded in 1697. Also see
dead drunk.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
drunk as a lord
Extremely drunk. Members of the nobility could afford to keep quantities of wine, beer, and liquor on hand, and as much out of envy as stating a fact, the common folk described anyone, titled or not, who had a load on by that phrase. In these more egalitarian times, “drunk as a skunk” and, less elegantly, “shit-faced drunk” have replaced “drunk as a lord.”
fiddler's bidding
Last-minute invitation. The image is a vacancy at a dinner table to which an itinerant fiddler who appeared at the door and asked to play for food was invited to join the household at the table.
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price