Hi,
Is “tired as a newt” a fixed expression? Does it simply mean very tired? :roll:
And… why is a newt so tired? :shock:
That expression is completely new to me.
Not a very good expression but “as pissed as a newt” = “very drunk” is commonly used.
Hi
have to agree with Haihao, his example is common usage in Britain. Never heard any American usage, but I am not an authority on this. Sometimes;
“as Nished as a pewt” (if you are being sarcastic).
“Tired as a newt” is used but less frequently. You would hear more often;
“Tired as a dog” or “Dog tired”.
You can ask the same question abouts dogs I guess concerning tiredness.
Dogs do sleep a lot though.
But as for newts they are considered quite active amphibians; maybe why some use the tiredness phrase, just an idea.
cheers stew.t.
How is that sarcastic?
It’s good enough for Hansard:
Mrs Carnell: Is this a supplementary question?
MR BERRY: You might think you pull the strings on the Speaker, but I can assure you that you do not. Mr Speaker, as you referred to members as being tired, will you advise the Assembly of which members you were accusing of being tired? Or is it the case that a Liberal MLA in this chamber was as tired as a newt?
hansard.act.gov.au/hansard/welcome.htm
And the parliament of NSW:
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much interjection. I ask members to co-operate by listening to the Premier in silence. Order! I call the honourable member for Ashfield to order.
Mr FAHEY: My observations indicated that the former Minister for Police was certainly emotional and tired. In fact, it would be fair to say that the former Minister for Police was as tired as a newt. He clearly had been affected by the events of the day. In the context of that, certain things were said. He has subsequently indicated clearly the meaning that he attributed to those statements.
It’s good enough for me. 
How about “Bished as a newt”?
Thanks all. I remember coming across “tired as a newt” in the BNC.
This wouldn’t be used in North America, because here “pissed” means angry.
It is new to me, too.
That’s in use on this side of the pond, too.
.
Hihi, English expressions are sometimes so funny. How can a newt be so pissed or tired? :P:P:P
This reminds me of the first time I learned about newt in the film Matilda. There was a scene where Miss Trenchbull was ‘attacked’ by a newt and she kept referring to the newt as snake, so Matilda corrected her and told her that it was not a snake, but a newt.
One thing I noticed about the newt is, it was always trying to keep its head up above the water. Maybe that was what tiring it up!
Good, now I remember the expression for good 
I see. Thank you. Just to bring owls to Athens but I came across it quite often suggesting ‘inebriated’ in some English or Irish literature. Just my two cents.
- As pissed as a newt = drunk
- Tired and emotional = drunk (euphemism)
Thus:
- As tired as a newt = drunk (inverted euphemism)
(“Inverted” because on “newt” you reinterpret “tired” as “pissed”.)
e.g. (from Google):
- Being as tired as a newt I went to my tent and was asleep in no time at all.
The reader is expected to understand that this was a special kind of tiredness.
MrP
Thanks for the tip. It’s really informative and convincing.
Almost all of this would be lost on a North American reader. It’s obviously local British slang.
I see. Certainly if an American says something like ‘get pissed/pissed off/pissed at’, they would all refer to the feeling of anger. BTW, I am not very sure but could ‘piss off’ also mean ‘get away/lost’? Sorry for all these bad languages.
Uhm… so there are many owls in Athens? (I’m asking this seriously because I really don’t know. (never heard that Athens is famous for owls 
)
It’s an idiom, nessie. Owl was the symbol of Athens.
Athens was supposed to be the seat of wisdom, since the Western philosophers of ancient times lived there. In Western folklore, the owl is supposed to be a “wise” animal, so bringing owls to Athens means you’re bringing wisdom to the place where people are already wise. It means that you bring something to a place where it’s not needed.
It’s more common to say “bring coals to Newcastle”, or since most Americans don’t know anything about Newcastle, we say “bring refrigerators to Eskimos”.
We also use that last one to describe someone who is very persuasive or is a very good salesperson: “He could sell refrigerators to Eskimos!”