Exhausted, Knackered, Forswunk, and Other Words for Plum Tuckered Out

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Jeff.

I’m from Green Bay, Wisconsin.

I was calling because me and my partner were driving,

And we were having a discussion in the car regarding different phrases

That are used to kind of describe situations you put in,

Like when you go traveling long distances,

They say you tend to suffer from jet lag,

Or when you go out and have a night on the town, you tend to have a hangover.

But we were kind of wondering when it comes to situations like after you have like a lot of exertion for like a lot of physical activity or you’re doing like a conference somewhere or anything, we couldn’t come up with any kind of a phrase or term in relation to that kind of a status that you might find yourself.

And I didn’t know if you had any insights as far as what that would be called.

So just to clarify, we’re talking about a more generic situation.

For example, you spend the day moving all your belongings to a new home.

Besides ordinary words like exhausted, you’re looking for something a little more colorful.

A little bit more colorful, correct.

Okay, gotcha.

English is loaded, Martha, I think, with a ton of these.

Well, yeah, the one that I really like is for swunk.

Do you know this term?

Oh, yeah, that’s used by all the kids today.

Well, yeah, the verb to swink is an old word that means to work really hard.

And so if you’re for swunk, then you’ve just totally worked all day.

And in Britain, you might say, I’m knackered.

You know, I’m really tired from doing something all day.

But I’m also thinking of, like, if you think of extreme sports, you know, people will talk about bonking, meaning sort of to hit a wall.

I think there’s some kind of…

Yeah, both of those.

Bonking in particular with cycling, right?

Yeah.

But I tell you what, the term that I really like is from French.

It’s coup de paume, which is aviation slang that’s been around since the 1920s.

And it refers to the sudden descent of a plane when it’s sucked into an air pocket, you know, and that sudden drop that you feel in a plane.

That’s what I feel about eight o’clock every night.

You know, I tell people that my bottom fell out.

I think of like carrying a cardboard box that’s got a lot of books in it and it’s a little bit wet on the bottom and all of a sudden the bottom falls out.

I don’t know.

That’s what I use.

What’s the French phrase again?

Coup de paume.

It’s, you know, like a blow of the pump.

Gotcha.

So, Martha, I was wondering if in your Southern heritage you have plum tuckered out in there anywhere.

Oh, sure.

Yeah.

Plum tuckered out.

Or dog tired.

-huh.

Yeah.

Both of those.

Yeah, for sure.

There are so many of these, Jeff.

I mean, which direction do you want to go?

Yeah.

I know.

I honestly love the first one, the forced wonk.

I’m looking forward to telling people that I’m just forced wonk after moving stuff around my house or something.

I’m like, I can’t do anything.

I’m forced wonk from work yesterday.

We don’t get many calls from Victorians, Jeff, but I’m glad you’re here.

Well, yeah, I like your notion, too, of after a conference or after a day at a conference.

It’s so stimulating but also so exhausting.

There’s also like when you’re almost there, almost worn out, like running on fumes is one I love.

Or just out of gas is another one.

Yeah.

Speaking of aviation, I was just reminded of what flight attendants say, you know, when they have had a long day and they go to their hotel room and they just want to slam click.

They just want to slam the door, click it locked, and not talk to anybody, not see anybody, not serve any drinks, nothing.

Just slam click.

As a mostly introvert, I get that.

I totally get that.

Right, exactly.

That’s kind of my general term after work.

I’m like, nope, done with peopling right now.

I’m going to slam quick for the day, I guess.

Well, Jeff, I hope we haven’t worn you out.

Or shattered you.

Yeah, he’s wrung out like a sponge, Martha.

Jeff, that’s a little bit of what we know on the topic,

But I’m sure our listeners will chime in with their,

Favorites. Appreciate it. Thank you very much. Take care. Bye-bye.

Bye, Jim. Take care. Bye.

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