Drunk As Skunks

Drinking too much alcohol in the Old West was a year-round sporting event and, of course, had its own slang. If someone was drunk they were “in their cups,” or “on a toot.”  In additon to being “ripped,” or “smashed,”  a cowboy might be described as “being on a bender.”  A disheveled, or “dead drunk” was described as “swacked,” “owled,” “sozzled,”  “pruned” or “sluiced.”  And someone spotted as being “lit up” was said to be “having his flag out.”