What are some slang words for a hangover?

July 19, 2006 6:43 AM

Looking for slang words for a hangover.

No matter how obscure. I'll get the ball rolling: katzenjammer.

posted by jon_kill to writing & language (43 comments total)

We always called it "divine punishment" or "God hates me" because it would happen on Sunday mornings after a Saturday of drinking.
posted by christinetheslp at 6:46 AM on July 19, 2006

Brown bottle flu.
posted by leapfrog at 6:52 AM on July 19, 2006

Overhang.

Been talking to god on the great white telephone.

Hamster mouth. (Yes, I have heard this one used and you ALL know what it means.)

We used to drink a lot of Boss cider when I was a student, and that was so chemical it gave the worst hangover experiences. We used to say we'd been embossed. But I guess that's not really applicable to many drinks.
posted by handee at 7:01 AM on July 19, 2006

Irish flu.

Maybe a little controversial, but my fiancee's parents are straight off the boat Irish, so its what we use.
posted by stormygrey at 7:02 AM on July 19, 2006

"Zacklies."

I.e., you wake up and your mouth tastes 'zackly like your butt (a.k.a. "egg zacklies").
posted by hangashore at 7:22 AM on July 19, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

A college friend described his hangovers as "feeling like he had gargled with a dead 'possum."
posted by 4ster at 7:37 AM on July 19, 2006

"Crudo" is Mexican slang for a hangover.

"That goes together like menudo and a crudo."
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 7:41 AM on July 19, 2006

"An inexplicable headache."

We like irony.
posted by Zozo at 7:46 AM on July 19, 2006

Modern Irish: Ta dha cinn orm.

Literally, "There are two heads on me."
posted by The Michael The at 7:48 AM on July 19, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

We usually describe someone with a hangover as "hangin' "or "in ribbons" or simply "in bits", which can be expanded to "Jaysus I'm like lego this mornin' - in bits".

When you're stomach can't take it anymore it's usually "praying to the porcelain god", or "talking to Huey and Ralph" or testing your "upchuck reflexes"
posted by TwoWordReview at 7:53 AM on July 19, 2006

I can't believe nobody's mentioned the "technicolour yawn".

Someone I know says "I've been tenderised".

Seconding Irish flu.
posted by randomination at 7:55 AM on July 19, 2006

Dusty
posted by ob at 7:56 AM on July 19, 2006

According to John Brownlee of The Consumerist, some people in Ireland like to say you must have "gotten a dirty glass"

"no one in Ireland ever gets drunk or hungover: the most that ever happens is that our systems react unfavorably to the dust at the bottom of our twelfth pint of Guinness"

full post here
posted by thejanna at 7:58 AM on July 19, 2006

I can't believe nobody's mentioned the "technicolour yawn".

But technicolor yawn is barfing, which is only a part of the hangover.
posted by NoMich at 8:05 AM on July 19, 2006

"Hurtin" as in "Man, I'm hurtin' today"

"Never again"

Pretty simplistic, I know.
posted by davey_darling at 8:05 AM on July 19, 2006

"food poisoning" is the usual excuse trotted out in our dept when someone is missing after a weekend bender.
posted by polyglot at 8:22 AM on July 19, 2006

"Someone slipped me a bad ice cube"

"Suffering the wrath of grapes"
posted by RMALCOLM at 8:25 AM on July 19, 2006

Tore up.
Fur-tongued.
Shittied.
Squinted.
Retarded.
Beerless.
With the throb.
Needing grease.
Wearing loud shoes.
The morning tremblies.
Dawn damage.
posted by klangklangston at 8:25 AM on July 19, 2006

Further to thejanna's post - "It must've been the dodgy burger" is pretty common too. In it's most basic form it's usually just "I'm dyin'!" or "Jaysus, I'm dying'!" A more colourful turn of phrase would be "I feel like a boiled shite this morning."
posted by TwoWordReview at 8:26 AM on July 19, 2006

Oh and of course - "I think I've got the DT's" (check out the song 'delirium tremens' by Christy Moore if you can find it (It's on the Live at the Point album which is well worth having in your collection)
posted by TwoWordReview at 8:29 AM on July 19, 2006

Plung
posted by dieguido at 8:32 AM on July 19, 2006

self inflicted wounds
posted by funboytree at 8:35 AM on July 19, 2006

"The Hate" is what my crowd has been calling it lately.

For those days after when your stomach is just not right... we call that having "BubbleGuts"
posted by austinetsu at 8:46 AM on July 19, 2006

"Torn" as in torn up.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 8:55 AM on July 19, 2006

"F**cked"
posted by ASM at 8:59 AM on July 19, 2006

Polish hangover = "kac"

It sounds a lot like "cats" (not "cack") or, not coincidentally, the beginning of "katzenjammer."

In South Africa, you might have a "babbelas."
posted by pracowity at 9:17 AM on July 19, 2006

"I was overserved last night."
posted by mckenney at 9:26 AM on July 19, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Assuming you woke up in a strange place with a strange women you dont know....

you can call it the The Memento. so called after the scene in the movie Memento when the main character (Guy Pearce) - who has severe short term memory loss - wakes up in bed next to a beautiful woman (Carrie-Anne Moss) and has no idea how he got there or who she was. it explains that first 5 minutes of panic when you realize you have no idea how your night ended.

saved for very special nights... kinda the opposite of the Coyote Ugly

a word on hang overs... the severity of your hangover iis inversely proportional to the craziness of the night before...
posted by Davaal at 9:50 AM on July 19, 2006

Faded.
posted by Four-Eyed Girl at 9:53 AM on July 19, 2006

"Red-eyed and bushy-tongued", as opposed to "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed".
posted by leapfrog at 9:55 AM on July 19, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Liquid flu is the politically correct version we use around these parts.
posted by Vantech at 10:31 AM on July 19, 2006

Well, my favorite term for being drunk is Heavily Refreshed. So I suppose you could say that when you're hungover you're suffering from Post Refreshment (Syndrome).
posted by ob at 10:34 AM on July 19, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

'cocktail flu'
posted by chrissyboy at 10:39 AM on July 19, 2006

A friend of mine from my Chicago days would always say that he felt like he had an alcohol-induced concussion on those mornings with an exceptionally bad headache.
posted by NoMich at 10:47 AM on July 19, 2006

These are great, thanks!
posted by jon_kill at 11:07 AM on July 19, 2006

Around work it's become "low blood sugar" from someone using this excuse to call out after a hard night out.
posted by cmfletcher at 11:39 AM on July 19, 2006

In Denmark the hangover is known as having 'tømmermænd' = carpenters.
posted by FidelDonson at 12:06 PM on July 19, 2006

We just call it being fucked (as in, "I was so fucked up last night... and I am so fucked today"), because inevitably there's something important that you have to do. The worse the hangover the more important that thing is. And as much as you try to plan, something comes up.

ASM, do you know me? :P
posted by devilsbrigade at 12:38 PM on July 19, 2006

My ex father-in law referred to it as "the high cost of low living"
posted by Zebtron at 4:08 PM on July 19, 2006

My buddies always say "in the hurt locker."
posted by Ugh at 5:16 PM on July 19, 2006

katzenhammered
posted by rob511 at 3:42 AM on July 20, 2006

The German word for hangover is "Kater" = "male cat". On a typical sunday you may be "verkatert" which could be translated as being "catted".

Why do we call it male cat, you ask? It derived from the word Katarrh which is basically an old-fashioned expression for an illness.
posted by bloo at 4:19 AM on July 20, 2006

I always thought a good name for both a hangover and a band would be "Excederin Breakfast."
posted by 4ster at 7:04 AM on July 20, 2006