The English verb phrase 'to tie one on' is used as an idiom to mean 'get drunk to an unusual or excessive degree'. Curious minds must be in a fever over how and when this usage began. What is this 'one' thing is that gets tied on, what does it get tied on to, and what on earth does any of this have to do with binge drinking?

Well, the answer is sadly disappointing. It seems that no one actually knows. The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that the first known use in print was in a book called "Western Folklore", which was printed in 1951, and compares it the British phrase 'tie a bun on' from the turn of the century (the one before last, that is). That's little help, though, because no one knows what that has to do with getting drunk either.

How is it that such phrases that have no obvious relation to their meanings can come into wide use without anyone knowing their origin? The truth must be out there.