# "To get lit up" meaning 'to get beaten up', or 'to get laid out'

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-get-lit-up-meaning-to-get-beaten-up-or-to-get-laid-out/207798>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 16, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-get-lit-up-meaning-to-get-beaten-up-or-to-get-laid-out/207798 "2003-10-16T16:14:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-get-lit-up-meaning-to-get-beaten-up-or-to-get-laid-out/207798/1 "2003-10-16T16:14:01Z")

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The redoutable Sonny Barger, founding president of the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels, uses the expression “lit up”, meaning “punched out” or “beaten up” throughout his memoir when describing fights. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen that expression, so what I’m wondering now is whether that’s biker slang, or Oakland working class slang, or is it something else?

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**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-get-lit-up-meaning-to-get-beaten-up-or-to-get-laid-out/207798/2 "2003-10-16T16:33:20Z")

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“Lit up” was sports terminology for lighting up the scoreboard with big numbers, or lighting up the goal scoring lights in hockey (lights go off by goal judge when goals are scored). Anyway, when you are lighting them up in sports, you are beating the heck out of the other team, so it might be a natural trangression to use “lit 'im up” to denote kicking someone’s ass.

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**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-get-lit-up-meaning-to-get-beaten-up-or-to-get-laid-out/207798/3 "2003-10-16T16:47:25Z")

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WAG: An equivalent of “seeing stars”?

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**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-get-lit-up-meaning-to-get-beaten-up-or-to-get-laid-out/207798/4 "2003-10-16T16:47:52Z")

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We use it a lot in the military when referring to someone who got their ass kicked, but we also say, “I got so lit last night” or “I got so lit up at the bar” when talking about getting drunk. Can’t find an origin sorry.

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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-get-lit-up-meaning-to-get-beaten-up-or-to-get-laid-out/207798/5 "2003-10-16T18:15:20Z")

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**vd** , that’s actually what I was thinking, however **alterego** ’s answer reminds me that Barger was a veteran, as were many other HA’s of the time. It makes sense to suppose that’s where he got it.