Tie One On

What was said? “You going to tie one on?”

Did someone really say that? Yes, Vince Vaughn to Colin Farrell on the 2nd episode of True Detectives Season 2.

What does it mean? Basically – to get really drunk.

Origin: Multiple theories exist:

1. Derived from the term “hang one on” – which refers to the “hang”over that one hangs onto the morning after you drink / “hang” one on. With this origin, many believe that tie one on means to begin drinking before your hangover from the previous night has worn off – therefore tying onto the previous drinking session (The Wordsworth Book of Euphemism” by Judith S. Neaman and Carole G. Silver – Wordsworth Reference, New York, 1983, 1990)
2. In the wild west of the USA, there was a notion that you had to tie up your host to a post outside a watering hole / saloon hence the “tie one on” saying (most sources believe this is not the true origina)
3. An old British saying “Tie a bun on” where “bun” refers to drunkenness where on one site there is a theory that the “bun” refers to proving your sobriety by balancing a bun on your head, and if you are drunk you would tie it on so it wouldn’t fall off.

 

Sources:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tie+one+on
http://meaningfulnessoflittlethings.blogspot.com/2008/03/origins-tie-one-on.html
http://www.timesdaily.com/archives/stumbling-to-find-origin-of-tie-one-on/article_9df77099-fc29-595c-9b1f-d3ebbc36b9e0.html

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