Would you like to describe someone who is full of enthusiasm for aggression, or someone who always seems like they're just about ready to fight everyone in the room? The phrase 'piss and vinegar' can be used to apply to them as a fair, easy description that is not often used these days. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.
Meaning
The phrase 'piss and vinegar' is a type of figurative expression.
The saying 'piss and vinegar' is used to mean that someone, either a person or a group of people, are always full of aggression or fighting spirit.
'Piss and vinegar' is used in a derogatory term and it can be used as an insult that singles out a person or group as aggressive. The implication of the phrase is that someone is irritable, aggressive, ready for a fight and often going to pick the fight in the first place.
The phrase 'piss and vinegar' is similar to saying that someone is 'full of beans', although the term 'beans' implies playful enthusiasm, while 'piss and vinegar' implies unfriendliness and aggression.
The most common use of the phrase is to say that '[someone] is full of piss and vinegar' to mean that they are aggressive, irritable and unpleasant.
Someone who is 'full of piss and vinegar' is someone who is less than desirable, although the term can also be used to self-reference someone who is ready for a fight and thus in a bad mood.
In some references for the term, the phrase is just used as 'piss and vinegar' where the rest of the meaning is assumed to be clear.
Example Usage
“The guys down at the bar kicked the shit out of all three of us. They were so full of piss and vinegar, they couldn't feel a thing when we hit them back.”
“I asked my grandfather how they got through the Great Depression back then. He told me they were full of piss and vinegar when they got up in the morning.”
“The soldiers went straight into the front lines, and they were full of piss and vinegar – ready to fight.”
“We were all full of piss and vinegar, there wasn't one guy who wasn't ready for a fight in that room. It was like Fight Club, but in the twenties.”
Origin
The phrase 'piss and vinegar' is a term that is likely to have originated somewhere in the 1800s, though some internet resources claim that the first mention of the phrase 'piss and vinegar' was in a novel called Dubious Battle.
After its Dubious Battle mention in 1936, the term is likely to have been mentioned again by other authors in subsequent works, after which it became a popular catchphrase.
The phrase 'piss and vinegar' was also mentioned in other novels of shortly after, and was quickly absorbed into pop culture as a movie and novel reference too.
Sometimes the term is seen on social media, where its meaning is the same as everything else: to imply that someone is full of fight.
Phrases Similar to Piss and Vinegar
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Phrases Opposite to Piss and Vinegar
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What is the Correct Saying?
- [full of] piss and vinegar
- Piss and vinegar
Ways People May Say Piss and Vinegar Incorrectly
There are several ways in which someone can misunderstand the phrase 'piss and vinegar' or use it in the wrong way when its use is inappropriate.
The phrase 'piss and vinegar' is meant as an insult (or self-reference) that means someone is full of fight – with the implication that they are picking the fight, or generally aggressive.
Someone can be described as 'full of piss and vinegar', or the shortened version of the phrase 'piss and vinegar' is also acceptable.
Acceptable Ways to Phrase Piss and Vinegar
The correct way to phrase the term 'piss and vinegar' is to use it as a phrase that says someone is full of fight, or that someone is aggressive.
Someone can use the phrase 'full of piss and vinegar' or the shortened version as 'piss and vinegar' instead.