Southern phrases "tuckered out" and "petered out" -- where do they come from?

Question

My grandparents used to use these phrases. Examples: "I'm all tuckered out" or "I'm all petered out." The meaning was... "I'm exhausted." Does anyone know the origin of these phrases? Thanks. :)

Answer 1

tuckered out

Exhausted, very tired, as in I was all tuckered out after that game. The precise origin of this usage is not known. [Colloquial; 1820s]

Etymology: obsolete English tuck to reproach + -er (as in 1batter) 1833

From Joseph R. Schmitt:

I have always thought the term petered out referred to a fuse or powder trail which lost fire before reaching the charge, as in mining, where the expression is used to denote the end of a vein, or as with a flintlock or cannon, where the fire must be led to the main charge. I find no proof.

Answer 2

Tuckered Out

Answer 3

Petered Out

Answer 4

These phrases are also very common in the midwest, and here´s what I recall being told:

"Tucker" is that old-fashioned lacy "bib" that women used to wear over their blouses way back in the day. They were usually heavily starched and gave the women that prim and proper look. After a long, hard day´s work, imagine the frazzled way a woman would look. She was no longer "tuckered." Hence, "tuckered out."

"Petered out," I believe comes from the term used to describe a tea kettle and the "whistle" it makes when the water is boiling (petering) and and it slowly loses strength, it´s "petering out." Once it no longer whistles, it´s "petered out."

So both of these came to mean "exhausted." Sorry I don´t know exactly where they originated.

Answer 5

The Bible has had it right for millenniums. “A live dog is better off than a dead lion. For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten.” (Ecclesiastes 9:4, 5) Does that mean there is absolutely no hope for the dead? Jesus Christ preach about resurrection to life on a restored paradise earth. His Jewish follower Martha, whose brother, Lazarus, had just died, believed in the resurrection, for she said of Lazarus: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” (John 11:24) To this, Jesus answered: “I am the resurrection and the life. He that exercises faith in me, even though he dies, will come to life; and everyone that is living and exercises faith in me will never die at all. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25, 26) Earlier, he had said: “Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.” John 5:28, 29; Luke 23:43. As you can see there will be a resurrection of both the righteous. and the unrighteous. Please do further research in you Bible to get a better understanding.

Answer 6

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RE:
Southern phrases "tuckered out" and "petered out" -- where do they come from?
My grandparents used to use these phrases. Examples: "I'm all tuckered out" or "I'm all petered out." The meaning was... "I'm exhausted." Does anyone know the origin of these phrases? Thanks. :)