fit to be tied
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: fĭt to͞o′ bē tīd′
enpr: fĭt′ tə bē tīd′
ipa: /fɪt tuː biː ˈtaɪ̯d/
ipa: /ˌfɪt tə biː ˈtaɪ̯d/
ipa: /fɪt tu bi ˈtaɪ̯d/
ipa: /ˌfɪt tə bi ˈtaɪ̯d/
ipa: /-ˈtʌɪ̯d/
ipa: /fɪt tʉː biː ˈtɑe̯d/
ipa: /ˌfɪt tə biː ˈtɑe̯d/
ipa: /fət tʉː biː ˈtaɪ̯d/
ipa: /ˌfət tə biː ˈtaɪ̯d/
ipa: /fɪt tʉ bi ˈtaɪ̯d/
ipa: /ˌfɪt tə bi ˈtaɪ̯d/
ipa: /-ˈtʌi̯d/
ipa: /-ˈtəi̯d/
ipa: /fɪʈ ʈuː biː ˈʈajɖ/
ipa: /ˌfɪʈ ʈo biː ˈʈajɖ/
Etymology: From fit (“proper, suitable; prepared, ready”, adjective) + to (infinitive-marking particle) + be (auxiliary passive-voice verb) + tied (“attached or fastened by string or the like; bound”, adjective), probably referring to someone being so agitated or angry that they need to be physically restrained to prevent harm to themselves and/or others.
Senses: examples: text: […] Mrs. Pepper reprimanded the master in the middle of the Park, before all the quality—Sunday afternoon, and the band playing, and the officers laughing, and he fit to be tied.
ref: 1838 April, “Ensign O’Donoghue’s Packet from Belgium”, in Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country, volume XVII, number C, London: James Fraser, […], →OCLC, page 446, column 2:
text: A thought struck him: he would play off the old lady for her ill-breeding, and he imparted his plan to Filagree. Shortly, they were whisked into a [train] tunnel, and all was darkness. Smack! Smack! from Cromwell, and ditto, ditto, from the Muffin, as they faithfully imitated loud kissing. It was pitch dark, and the old lady was "fit to be tied." "Girls, what are you about?" Smack! Smack! again.
ref: 1849, [Sir Richard Levinge, 7th Baronet], chapter VI, in Cromwell Doolan; or, Life in the Army. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 132:
text: Rage, frenzy and grief, fluctuated in my breast with a terrible power. I was as one distraught, as one fit to be tied.
ref: 1859 April 2, “The Reverend Alfred Hoblush Finds a New Broom”, in Charles Dickens, editor, Household Words. A Weekly Journal, volume XIX, number 471, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], →OCLC, page 425, column 2:
text: Some girls can set around until they're blue moulded, and never a feller to ask 'em, and others the boys'll fret and pleg until they're fit to be tied, with nerves!
ref: 1915, Kathleen Norris, chapter VIII, in The Story of Julia Page, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 368:
text: […] I was fit to be tied though I wouldnt give in with that gentleman of fashion staring down at me with his glasses and him the other side of me talking about [Baruch] Spinoza […]
ref: 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 18: Penelope]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 719:
text: I’m fit to be tied right now. I’d like to throw my cap up into the air and yell Blue Blazes.
ref: 1932, Edgar Wallace, Merian C[aldwell] Cooper, novelization by Delos W[heeler] Lovelace, chapter 6, in King Kong, trade softcover edition, Nevada City, Calif.: Underwood Books, published 2005, →ISBN, page 40:
text: A man has a lot of time to think about a wife's anger during a long commute, […] You have all the way in to work to let it get into your head. And then if you've also been caught in a traffic jam, you're maybe fit to be tied by the time you get to work in the morning of you get home at night. You get the most depressing, down thoughts.
ref: 2007 June 3, Michael Leahy, “Driven to Extremes”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Mar 2016:
text: You can run! ¶ You can hide! ¶ But we'll be right on your tail, ¶ And we're all fit to be tied!
ref: 2020 March 21, Random Encounters, “Goose on Holiday: An Untitled Goose Game Song”performed by Random Encounters, Adriana Figueroa, and FamilyJules, YouTube, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2023:
synonyms: word: ready to be tied
word: ropeable
word: angry
word: annoyed
word: apoplectic
word: bad-tempered
word: berserk
word: big mad
word: blood-boiling
word: boiling mad
word: cheesed off
word: choleric
word: cross
word: enraged
word: fit to be tied
word: fuming
word: furibund
word: furious
word: fury
word: glimflashy
word: hopping mad
word: ill-natured
word: incensed
word: infuriated
word: irate
word: ireful
word: ired
word: irritated
word: little mad
word: livid
word: mad
word: mad as a bear with a sore head
word: pathetic
word: pissed off
word: p'd off
word: pissed
word: pissy
word: raging
word: ready to be tied
word: screwfaced
word: seething
word: spitting chips
word: splenetic
word: sore
word: steaming
word: up on one's ear
word: vexed
word: waxy
word: wode
word: wrathful
word: wroth
word: zowerswopped
glosses: Very agitated or distressed; also, very angry; enraged, furious.
wikipedia: Michael Quinion