How To Say “Drunk” In 14 Different Ways Across the U.S.A

  • 3. PIFFLICATED

    This word for tipsy or drunk seems to be a riff on spifflicated, another old-timey term for drunk. Spifflicated seems to have first been used by American writer O. Henry in 1902 and comes from the verb spiflicate, meaning “to deal with in such a way as to confound or overcome completely.” Pifflicated— also, piffed, pifficated, and piffled—might be used in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

    4. FLABBERGASTED

    You might be flabbergasted by something shocking or surprising, or by something boozy, at least if you’re in Pennsylvania.

    5. PLOTZED

    Wasted in Wisconsin? You could say you're plotzed or plotched. This might come from the Yiddish plotz, meaning to explode (figuratively), to split at one's seams, or to die from laughter, etc.

    6. SKUNK-DRUNK

    If you’re skunk-drunk, you’re thoroughly soused. This term is chiefly used in the South and South Midland. Other drunk-as-a-skunk sayings include skunk-bit, which might be used in the Pacific Northwest, skunked in Minnesota, and skunky in California. Why skunks? Perhaps you might be as “stinking drunk” as a skunk, or because of the rhyme.

    7. LAP-LEGGED DRUNK

    The next time someone is so plastered they’re walking wobbly, you can say they’re lap-legged drunk. Lap-legged might come from lapsided, a variation of “lopsided.”

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