In the July/August issue of the The Ozarks Mountaineer magazine was this passage:
"George was all in a toot when that hornets nest fell out of the tree on him." What is a "toot" and how many have heard or used this expression?
Below is the Oxford English Dictionary entry that most closely fits. It is in the third noun definition.
2. A drinking match; a drunken fit, a spree (U.S. slang); esp. in the phrase on the toot; hence, a tea-party.
1790 A. Shirrefs Poems Gloss., Tout, a drinking-bout, a drinking match.
1891 Cent. Mag. Nov. 54 Grubbsy's went off on a toot, and they've got nobody to ride.
1897 W. D. Howells Landlord Lion's Head 228 To-day I found him at Mrs. Bevidge's altruistic toot.
1900 Lynch High Stakes xxxii. in J. S. Farmer Slang, I'd never 'a' carried 'em‥if I 'adn't been on a regular toot for the last week.
I have heard and used it in the "drunken fit" meaning. The "a spree (U.S. slang)" seems to leave out the drunken part and just leaves fit behind.
Has anyone else heard or used "toot"?
Emmett
I have heard this, not frequently. Synonyms would be "upset" or "in a dither". However, I googled it and checked a half dozen online dictionaries and found no mention of it in any dictionary and maybe 3 or 4 uses on various web pages.
EmmettRedd said:The "a spree (U.S. slang)" seems to leave out the drunken part and just leaves fit behind.
In my experience spree, without a qualifier (shopping, buying, crime, shooting) refers specifically to alcohol.
Yes, as in the lyrics to "Button Up Your Overcoat":
"Keep away from bootleg hooch / When you're on a spree..."
And the familiar military reference to the French apple-based brandy, calvados, and its impact on the troops: a spree de core.
Not to mention the manic shopping aftershock following an HGTV marathon: a spree decor.