Meaning
Slightly or noticeably drunk after one drink too many. Informal euphemism for intoxication, usually suggesting mild rather than dangerous drunkenness. Regional use: British English.
Origin
British slang recorded in the early 1920s, including Edgar Wallace's 1924 novel The Face in the Night. It is commonly explained as one drink beyond a supposed safe allowance of eight, sometimes in a military setting, but firm evidence for that precise arithmetic story is lacking.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- Be one over the eight
- Have one over the eight
- One over eight
Usage Examples
- By closing time Uncle Ray was one over the eight and singing to the coat stand.
- She had one over the eight, so we called a taxi and collected her car in the morning.