tanglefoot, a. and n.
(ˈtæŋg(ə)lfʊt)
[f. tangle v.1 + foot n.]
a. adj. That tangles or entangles the foot. b. n. That which tangles or entraps the foot; spec. U.S. slang, an intoxicating beverage, esp. whisky. Also attrib. So ˈtangle-footed a., having tangled feet, stumbling.
| 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer., Tangle-foot, one of the Western figurative terms for whiskey. 1871 Hartford Courant 17 Mar. (Farmer Slang), He proceeded..toward a neighboring saloon in quest of tangle-foot. 1881 ‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. at Home ii, He could..hold more tangle⁓foot whisky without spilling it than any man in seventeen counties. 1888 Voice (N.Y.) 27 Dec., [Stories] of this tanglefooted variety, which trip up and throw themselves by their absurdity and self-contradiction. 1893 Chicago Advance 28 Sept., The tangle-foot complications in which it was sure to involve its defenders. 1900 Daily News 11 Apr. 3/2 The poisonous ‘Cape Smoke’, or ‘tanglefoot’, which they [soldiers] get in too great abundance out here. 1908 W. R. Hearst in Westm. Gaz. 2 Oct. 5/1 The deeper he sinks into the tangle-foot of corruption and contradiction. |