1830. Moncrieff, Heart of London, ii. 2. His lordship seems hipped—something wrong in the House last night, I suppose—a screw loose on the opposition benches.
1837. Dickens, Pickwick, xlix. My uncle was confirmed in his original impression that something dark and mysterious was going forward, or, as he always said himself, that 'there was a screw loose somewhere.'
1855. Trollope, The Warden, viii. There's a screw loose in their case, and we had better do nothing.
1872. South London Press, 17 Aug. Whether there was a screw loose in the apparatus, or whether the man possessed nerves of more than ordinary power, I know not; but somehow or other the electricity had no effect.
Screwed (or Screwy), adj. (common).—Drunk;
tight (q.v.).
English synonyms.—[Further lists will be found under Drinks, Drunk, D.T's, Gallon-distemper, Lush, Lush-crib, and Lushington.] To be afflicted, afloat, alecied, all at sea, all mops-and-brooms, in one's armour, in one's altitudes, at rest, Bacchi plenus, battered, be-argered, beery, bemused, a bit on, blind, bloated, blowed, blued, boozed, bosky, a brewer, bright in the eye, bubbed, budgy, buffy, bung-eyed, candy, canon (or cannon), chirping-merry, chucked, clear, clinched, concerned, corked, corkscrewed, corky, corned, crooked, in one's cups, cup-shot, cut, dagged, damaged, dead-oh! disguised, disorderly, doing the Lord (or Emperor), done over, down (with barrel-fever: see Gallon-distemper), dull in the eye, full of Dutch-courage, electrified, elephant's-trunk (rhyming), elevated, exalted, far gone, feeling funny (or right royal), fettled (or in good fettle), fighting-tight (or drunk), flawed, floored, fluffed, flummoxed, flushed, flustered, flustrated, flying-high, fly-blown, fogged (or foggy), fou (Scots), on fourth, foxed, fresh, fuddled, full, full-flavoured, full to the bung, fuzzy, gay, gilded, glorious, grape-shot, gravelled, greetin'-fou', groggy, hanced, half-seas-over, happy, hard-up, hazy, heady, hearty, helpless, hiccius-doccius, hickey, high, hockey, hoodman, in a difficulty (see Gallon-distemper), incog, inspired, jagged, jolly, jug-bitten, kennurd (back slang = drunk), all keyhole, kisk, knocked-up, leary, lion drunk, in Liquor-pond Street-loaded, looking lively, lumpy, lushy, making indentures with one's legs, malted, martin-drunk, mashed, mellow, miraculous, mixed, moony, mopped, moppy, mortal, muckibus, muddled, mugged, muggy, muzzy, nappy, nase (or nazy), noddy-headed, noggy, obfuscated, oddish, off (off at the nail, or one's nut), on (also on the bend, beer, batter, fuddle, muddle, sentry, skyte, spree, etc.: see Flare-up and Floored), out (also out of funds, register, altitudes, &c.), overcome, overseen, overshot, over-sparred, overtaken, over the bay, palatic, paralysed, peckish, a peg too low, pepst, pickled, piper-drunk (or -merry), ploughed, poddy, podgy, potted-off, pot-shot, pot-sick, pot-valiant, primed, pruned, pushed, queered, quick-tempered, raddled, rammaged, ramping-mad, rather touched, rattled, reeling (or tumbling), ripe, roaring, rocky, salubrious, scammered, scooped, sewn up, shaky, three (or four) sheets in the wind, shot, shot in the neck, slewed, smeekit, smelling of the cork, snapped, snuffy, snug, so, soaked, sow-
