# What is the origin of the phrase "Tie one on"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-tie-one-on/787785>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 31, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-tie-one-on/787785 "2017-05-31T18:12:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-tie-one-on/787785/1 "2017-05-31T18:12:06Z")

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…as in “To get drunk”?

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**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-tie-one-on/787785/2 "2017-05-31T18:18:34Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> From “The Wordsworth Book of Euphemism” by Judith S. Neaman and Carole G. Silver (Wordsworth Reference, New York, 1983, 1990) – “Tie one on, to - To get drunk. (Eric) Partridge suggests that this expression is derived from ‘hang one on’ (ca. 1935), which originated in the United States and was later adopted in Canada. It is clear that a ‘hangover’ – more politely, ‘the morning after’ – is the miserable memento of having ‘hung’ or ‘tied one on.’ We are uncertain as to why drinking is described as tieing, hanging or belting…”
> 
> :  
> : Some sites claim that the phrase “tie one on” dates back to the wild west here in the US in the 1800’s where a cowboy would have to tie up his horse to a hitching post before he could go into the saloon and get drunk.

> **[Tie one on - phrase meaning and origin](https://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/4/messages/1222.html)**
>
> Tie one on - the meaning and origin of this phrase

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**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-tie-one-on/787785/3 "2017-05-31T19:08:54Z")

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I assume that you’ve done all the Googling and have found, like me, that there appears to be no consensus on the origin.

My favorite (almost certainly) apocryphal version found in the comments of one site refers to the British “tie a bun on” mentioned as a possible earlier version. The commenter suggests that one proved their ability to drive their horse and carriage home by walking through the pub with a bun balanced on their head. Those who were unable to do so had “to tie the bun on”.

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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:** [June 6, 2017, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-tie-one-on/787785/4 "2017-06-06T05:28:13Z")

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I think it refers to a wing, as in “you can’t fly on one wing”, an old expression used when urging someone to have another drink.

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-tie-one-on/787785/5 "2017-06-06T14:12:01Z")

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I like the Fred Flintstone line: “I’m going to tie one on–a feedbag, that is!”