“You’re a Pill!” “He’s a pill!” “Don’t be such a pill!”
These were common phrases my grandparents aimed at us young 'uns, many ages ago.
Of course, I now realize that “pill” readily translates into “pain in the ass”, only in a more light-hearted way.
So, are you familiar with the phrase? What did it mean for you? Do you use it yourself?
I kinda miss the phrase. I used it on my kids only infrequently, and I doubt they even noticed as a result. If they give me grandkids, I’ll definitely use it on them!
I believe the phrase comes from the old expression “You’re a tough pill to swallow.” apparently back in the old days (which old days I’m not sure) pills were made out of different stuff than they are these days. These old timey pills were, presumably, harder to swallow and digest than the modern days. Thus pills that were unpleasant to ingest became synonymous with things that were annoying.
I think the first time I heard it was in this movie (the line is featured in the trailer), and while I’ve heard it in others, I’ve never heard it used in real life.
I’ve read it, but never used it. IIRC, it was in the book “2000 Insults for all Occasions” written in late 60’s to early 70s, but I think Henny Youngman may have used it in the 40s. By the context, it meant PITA, and it appeared to be pretty archaic in the 60s.
I’ve used it to describe my kids before. Not directly at them “you are a pill” but, for example, dropping the oldest off with his dad’s family for the night “he’s been kind of a pill today so I hope he cheers up for you” or to a teacher “He was a real pill last night and we talked about attitudes; I hope you don’t have any trouble today!”
I use it just like “pain in the ass” except I can’t call my kids pains in the ass so I say “pill”.