stewed to the mickey??

[hmendes]

Hello all,

I am reading a police novel from Bob Leuci, named Captain Butterfly, which has the following text (pag 47):

«(...) Long Island said they found him in the arms of a scrub oak at Exit 40 of the Expressway. He was stewed to the mickey, half his face in his hands. (...)»

What I would li ask, is the meaning o the expression above, setwed to the mickey. Being a non English native I understand all the sentence except for this part.

Can someone help?
Thanks
H. Mendes

[Raymott]

Hello all,

I am reading a police novel from Bob Leuci, named Captain Butterfly, which has the following text (pag 47):

«(...) Long Island said they found him in the arms of a scrub oak at Exit 40 of the Expressway. He was stewed to the mickey, half his face in his hands. (...)»

What I would li ask, is the meaning o the expression above, setwed to the mickey. Being a non English native I understand all the sentence except for this part.

Can someone help?
Thanks
H. Mendes

It most likely means he was drunk. There are thousands of ways of saying this and although I haven't heard this specific one, 'stewed' in this context is almost certain to mean 'drunk', and 'to the mickey' means 'very'.

[Ouisch]

In AmE, we say "stewed to the gills" to describe someone who is drunk. I have a feeling that "stewed to the mickey" is the BrE equivalent.

[hmendes]

Thanks for your help!
It makes sense on the context, as it is a situation of a car accident.

All the best
H. Mendes

[bhaisahab]

In AmE, we say "stewed to the gills" to describe someone who is drunk. I have a feeling that "stewed to the mickey" is the BrE equivalent.

I've never in all my 59 years heard "stewed to the mickey" in BrE.