tight as a clam

[meliss]

Hi. What does it mean to be tight as a clam? To be drunk?

"I am astonished at the quantities of spirits my brother pours down. In Macedon, Elias was always the most moderate of topers. Now he is tight as a clam. They all are. Liquor is hard, distilled from rye and barley, fiery enough to gag a horse."

(The Afghan Campaign by Steven Pressfield)

 

[Tarheel]

I am astonished at the quantities of spirits my brother pours down.

What does that tell you?

 

[Tarheel]

In Macedon, Elias was always the most moderate of topers. Now he is tight as a clam. They all are. Liquor is hard, distilled from rye and barley, fiery enough to gag a horse."

And that? What does it tell you?

 

[meliss]

And that? What does it tell you?

I've supposed that he was drunk. It tells me nothing more.

 

[meliss]

What does that tell you?

It's clear.

 

[Tarheel]

I am astonished at the quantities of spirits my brother pours down.

Drunkenness is not indicated there. It says, according to the speaker/writer that the person drinks a lot. It doesn't say he was drunk.

 

[Tarheel]

Elias was always the most moderate of topers. Now he is tight as a clam. They all are. Liquor is hard, distilled from rye and barley, fiery enough to gag a horse."

Elias is a heavy drinker -- just like the rest of the crowd he hangs out with. They like to drink the hard stuff. Elias has changed. He used to drink in moderation, but he has changed. Now he is as tight as a clam (the opposite situation).

 

[5jj]

Drunkenness is not indicated there. It says, according to the speaker/writer that the person drinks a lot. It doesn't say he was drunk.

It does.

Now he is tight as a clam.

Tight as a clam normally indicates very tight. Here tight has the idiomatic meaning of drunk.

 

[Tarheel]

Well, you are always right, and I am always wrong. So there's that.