fit to be tied

English

WOTD – 24 June 2023

Etymology

From fit (“proper, suitable; prepared, ready”) and tied (“attached or fastened by string or the like; bound”), probably referring to someone being so agitated or angry that they need to be physically restrained to prevent harm to themselves or others.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌfɪt‿tə biː ˈtaɪd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌfɪt‿tə bi ˈtaɪd/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪd

Adjective

fit to be tied (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic, informal) Very agitated or distressed; also, very angry; enraged, furious. [from early 19th c.]

   Synonyms: ready to be tied, ropeable; see also Thesaurus:angry

   • 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:

     […] 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.

   • 1849, [Sir Richard Levinge, 7th Baronet], chapter VI, in Cromwell Doolan; or, Life in the Army. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 132:

     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.

   • 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:

     Rage, frenzy and grief, fluctuated in my breast with a terrible power. I was as one distraught, as one fit to be tied.

   • 1915, Kathleen Norris, chapter VIII, in The Story of Julia Page, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 368:

     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!

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 18: Penelope]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 719:

     […] 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 […]

   • 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:

     I’m fit to be tied right now. I’d like to throw my cap up into the air and yell Blue Blazes.

   • 2007 June 3, Michael Leahy, “Driven to Extremes”, in The Washington Post‎^[1], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-03-05:

     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.

   • 2020 March 21, Random Encounters (lyrics and music), “Goose on Holiday: An Untitled Goose Game Song”‎^[2]performed by Random Encounters, Adriana Figueroa, and FamilyJules, YouTube, archived from the original on 2023-03-21:

     You can run! / You can hide! / But we'll be right on your tail, / And we're all fit to be tied!

Translations

very agitated or distressed — see agitated,‎ distressed

very angry — see enraged,‎ furious

Further reading

• anger on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• mental distress on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “fit to be tied” under “fit, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2023.