Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
up the pole en · ADP
Pronunciation
Meanings
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(obsolete, slang) In favour or good repute; strait-laced; teetotal.
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(informal) In confusion; mistaken.
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(informal) In trouble or difficulty.
I think we may take it for granted that our friend Weldon is a bit up the pole financially.
1932, Dorothy L. Sayers, Have His Carcase:An' all them joys o' life I 'eld so sweet / Is up the pole.
1915, C.J. Dennis, The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, published 1916, page 13:
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(archaic, slang) Drunk.
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(slang) Crazy; at one's wits' end.
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(Ireland, informal) Pregnant.
You know that red Carlisle girl, Lily? […] Is she up the pole? —Better ask Seymour that.
1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 1: Telemachus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part I [Telemachia], page 22:
Forms