fit to be tied en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˌfɪt tə bi ˈtaɪ̯d/ (Canada, General-American)
- /ˌfɪt tə biː ˈtaɪ̯d/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /fɪt tʉ bi ˈtaɪ̯d/ (Scotland)
- /fɪt tʉː biː ˈtɑe̯d/ (Australia)
- /-ˈtəi̯d/ (Scotland)
- fĭt to͞o′ bē tīd′
- /fət tʉː biː ˈtaɪ̯d/ (New-Zealand)
- /ˌfɪʈ ʈo biː ˈʈajɖ/ (India)
- fĭt′ tə bē tīd′
- /-ˈtʌɪ̯d/ (Canada)
- audio AuE
- /fɪt tu bi ˈtaɪ̯d/ (Canada, General-American)
- /ˌfɪt tə biː ˈtɑe̯d/ (Australia)
- /fɪt tuː biː ˈtaɪ̯d/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˌfɪt tə bi ˈtaɪ̯d/ (Scotland)
- /-ˈtʌi̯d/ (Scotland)
- /fɪʈ ʈuː biː ˈʈajɖ/ (India)
- /ˌfət tə biː ˈtaɪ̯d/ (New-Zealand)
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.
Meanings
-
(idiomatic, informal, not-comparable) Very agitated or distressed; also, very angry; enraged, furious.
[…] 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.
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:[…] 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 […]
1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 18: Penelope]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 719:I’m fit to be tied right now. I’d like to throw my cap up into the air and yell Blue Blazes.
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: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.
1849, [Sir Richard Levinge, 7th Baronet], chapter VI, in Cromwell Doolan; or, Life in the Army. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 132: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!
1915, Kathleen Norris, chapter VIII, in The Story of Julia Page, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 368:Rage, frenzy and grief, fluctuated in my breast with a terrible power. I was as one distraught, as one fit to be tied.
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: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.
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:You can run! ¶ You can hide! ¶ But we'll be right on your tail, ¶ And we're all fit to be tied!
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
ireful · pissed off · sore · pathetic · vexed · hot · p'd off · angry · agitated · glimflashy · grim · offended · ready to be tied · furibund · berserk · spitting chips · little mad · hopping mad · zowerswopped · enraged · raging · pissy · blood-boiling · boiling mad · seething · wrathful · cheesed off · frustrated · infuriated · upset · miffed · fit to be tied · ired · ill-natured · steaming · ready to be tied · screwfaced · up on one's ear · ropeable · cranky · irate · wode · fuming · big mad · furious · pissed · waxy · splenetic · choleric · mad as a bear with a sore head · incensed · apoplectic · mad · wroth · fury · irritated · bad-tempered · annoyed · cross · butthurt · livid