drunk as a lord
(redirected from falling-down)(as) drunk as a lord
Very intoxicated from alcohol. Do you remember last night at all? You were as drunk as a lord! I only meant to stay for one drink, but I wound up getting drunk as a lord.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
*drunk as a lord
and *drunk as a skunkvery drunk. (*Also: as ~.) After his fifth cocktail, Michael was as drunk as a lord. Judy bought herself a case of beer and proceeded to get as drunk as a skunk.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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 (or skunk)
extremely drunk.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
(as) drunk as a ˈlord
(British English) (American English (as) drunk as a ˈskunk) (informal) very drunk: I eventually found them in a bar, both as drunk as skunks. OPPOSITE: (as) sober as a judgeFarlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
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.”
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price