Have you ever gotten ‘blotto’? It’s a common slang term only in WA, but what does it mean?
Last night we went out on the town and got so blotto!
Do you have any idea what that means? If you’re not a native of Washington state or haven’t lived there for long, you probably don’t have a clue.
Perhaps you’re a born and bred Washingtonian and still have no idea what that sentence is trying to imply.
But according to a recent study by the online tool YourDictionary, one word in the sentence is the most popular slang in Washington state for an extreme degree of inebriation. It means very, very drunk.
The word “blotto” is slang to say you’ve been drinking heavily, according to YourDictionary and the Urban Dictionary. More precisely, the term is used for when someone has been drinking heavily, according to Dictionary.com.
The YourDictionary study found that Washington is the state that uses the word the most.
Where did blotto come from?
It’s unclear why Washingtonians latched onto the word, but according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the term originated shortly after the turn of the 20th century.
It’s derived from the word “blot,” created in the early 15th century to describe “obliterating” words from a page by blotting them out with ink. The parchment would soak up the ink, and according to the etymology dictionary, “blotto” was taken from this meaning and attached to a person’s ability to soak up alcohol.
The website wordhistories.net found the first recorded use of blotto appearing in bodies of work from British military members in World War I.
In the 1925 book Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases, authors Edward Fraser and John Gibbons write, “possibly from the idea of soaking up liquor like blotting paper. There is also a suggestion of the effect of over-indulgence in blotting things out from memory.”
What words do other states use?
Washington isn’t unique in being the only state that most commonly uses a specific word for getting drunk.
Although 30 states most commonly use the word “loaded” when describing being drunk, four other states have unique words for their inebriated state:
California - Plowed
Colorado - Tipsy
New York - Smashed
Rhode Island - Plastered
The words “blasted,” “buzzed” and “blitzed” are also used in a handful of states.
Had you heard of the word blotto before reading this article? Let us know in the poll below and see how many other people are up to scratch with their alcohol lingo:
