tanglelegs

English

Etymology

tangle +‎ legs

Noun

tanglelegs (uncountable)

1. (archaic, US) Alcoholic liquor.
   • 1844, “The Monster of Many Names”, in Temperance Dialogues‎^[1], New York: American Temperance Union:

     You remind me of a sailor I saw the other day. Jack was already "half seas over," when he went into Smith's and called for an ounce of old tangle-legs. Thinks I, what is that? So I kept my eye on the scales, but Smith understood him; so he gave him a glass, you see, and off he went. But, dear me, I guess it was tangle-legs! First he went this way; and then that, zigzag, like a Virginia fence, till his legs got into a complete tangle, and down he went.

   • 1879, Henry Wheeler Shaw, “March 1879”, in Josh Billings' Old Farmer's Allminax; republished in Josh Billings' Old Farmer's Allminax, 1870–1879‎^[2], New York: G. W. Dillingham, 1902:

     Whiskee iz one ov the tonicks, i think, but i aint sure, i kno it iz one ov the tanglelegs, for I hav seen it tried often.

Alternative forms

• tangle-leg