What's the origin of the phrase "out like Lottie's eye"?

August 18, 2006 1:10 AM

What's the origin of the phrase "out like Lottie's eye"?

Clyde Barrow (of Bonnie and fame) said "I'm just going on 'til they get me, then I'm out like Lottie's eye."

This same question has been asked on Yahoo!'s Answers site but the responses aren't very satisfying.

Is the biblical Lot's wife being referred to here?

Some mention a speakeasy in Chicago called "Lottie's Pub" that supposedly turned a blind eye to activities inside. However, others mention that the term has been in use since English pre-colonial times.

Anyone have a definitive answer?

posted by redteam to Society & Culture (3 answers total)

Drunktionary also refers to "Out Like Lottie's Eye" as a euphemism for being smashed, and WordWizard.com's Street Slang section reports it being in a deep sleep..
posted by vanoakenfold at 3:07 AM on August 18, 2006

You might want to ask this at wordorigins.org, where they specialize in this sort of thing. I warn you, though, you're unlikely to get a definitive answer; most slang expressions are born in obscure circumstances, and by the time they catch on and people start wondering about them, the original situation has been forgotten. (In this case, there may never have been an actual Lottie, the phrase just sounded good to somebody.)
posted by languagehat at 5:35 AM on August 18, 2006

Odin gave up an eye for wisdom. He had a half-foster-blood brother named Loki Laufeyiarson. Loki was mistook for Odin and then mispelled as Lottie.

Crazy wild guess from upper-mid-left field but I'm running with it. All the way to Norseland and back. Cursed shapeshifters.
posted by shoesfullofdust at 4:28 PM on August 18, 2006