# ... fed to the teeth. / up to the gills



## Puellam audiam

Ecossaise said:


> Definitely 2, except that the detective is not frightened of getting into trouble, just fed to the back teeth with the trouble that comes when Wilt is involved.


 
"fed to the back teeth"?
is a strong version of "fed up with"?


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## gaer

Puellam audiam said:


> "fed to the back teeth"?
> is a strong version of "fed up with"?


Yes, although "fed to the teeth" is more common.


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## Orange Blossom

gaer said:


> Yes, although "fed to the teeth" is more common.


Not here.  I've never heard it.  We say "I've had it up to here." with a gesture to one's neck.

Going with interpretation 2. I would think that police officer is fed up with dealing with all the paperwork, hassles, and problems Henry Wilt has caused him.

Orange Blossom


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## The Flaneur

In England we would say "fed up to the back teeth" rather than "fed to the back teeth".


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## gaer

Orange Blossom said:


> Not here. I've never heard it. We say "I've had it up to here." with a gesture to one's neck.
> 
> Orange Blossom


No. "Fed to the teeth" is more commone than "fed to the back teeth". It's another expression for "fed up".

fed up

Gaer


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## Orange Blossom

> Fed to the teeth


I've not heard this one either.

Orange Blossom


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## Ecossaise

_*fed to the gills*_ Also,  fed to the teeth;  fed up.  Disgusted, unable or unwilling to put up with something.  For example, *I'm fed to the gills with these delays (the gills* here is slang for "mouth"), or *He was fed to the teeth with her excuses*, or *I'm fed up--let's leave right now*.  Of these colloquial expressions, *fed up*, alluding to being overfull from having overeaten, dates from about 1900, and the others from the first half of the  					1900s.  [HoughtonMifflin]

Since around the 14th century, "to the teeth" has been used as an equivalent to the popular "up to here". You could be "fed to the teeth", or even, be "fed up to the teeth".  [Word Detective]

When pushed to the limit, my mother would say. "I'm fed to the back teeth with the lot of you."  It may be not very common, but we knew exactly what she meant.


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## mjscott

Wow! I've not heard the expression before, either. "I'm fed up to HERE with your complaining in the back seat!" --Not heard "fed to the teeth" before! I would assume what it meant, however--as with most things--context gives many clues!


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## gaer

mjscott said:


> Wow! I've not heard the expression before, either. "I'm fed up to HERE with your complaining in the back seat!" --Not heard "fed to the teeth" before! I would assume what it meant, however--as with most things--context gives many clues!


I think "fed to the teeth" is more unusual today, a bit old-fashioned. I heard it from my parents and grandparents, but my father was born in 1907.


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## maxiogee

My father was always 'fed up to the back teeth'. He was never 'fed to the teeth' or even 'fed to the back teeth'.
I think it was a generational thing - mine was born in 1909. People now don't seem to get their teeth into their complaints about the sort of thing which 'gets on their .....' or which '.....es them off'.


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## gaer

maxiogee said:


> My father was always 'fed up to the back teeth'. He was never 'fed to the teeth' or even 'fed to the back teeth'.
> I think it was a generational thing - mine was born in 1909. People now don't seem to get their teeth into their complaints about the sort of thing which 'gets on their .....' or which '.....es them off'.


These days they just get "pissed". 

Gaer


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## .   1

Orange Blossom said:


> We say "I've had it up to here." with a gesture to one's neck.


This is the more common variant down under.
Fed up is also quite common but fed up to the back teeth is rare.

.,,


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## JamesM

maxiogee said:


> My father was always 'fed up to the back teeth'. He was never 'fed to the teeth' or even 'fed to the back teeth'.
> I think it was a generational thing - mine was born in 1909. People now don't seem to get their teeth into their complaints about the sort of thing which 'gets on their .....' or which '.....es them off'.


 
I think that might be the case.  I've heard people of my parents' generation say, "fed up to the back teeth", but it does seem to have fallen out of use over the generations.


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## coiffe

I haven't heard "fed to the teeth" in AE either.

I think there's a consensus here that Americans don't know this phrase (except for maybe some minute exceptions out on the dying fringe). We say "fed up", not "fed..." But as I understand it, this is a common British expression?

Please confirm.


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## Orange Blossom

Perhaps it's a combination of generation and where folks came from.  My father was born in 1922 and my grandparents in the 1890's.  He has not heard either of the "teeth" versions, but he has a Swedish background.

Orange Blossom


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## coiffe

Orange Blossom said:


> Perhaps it's a combination of generation and where folks came from. My father was born in 1922 and my grandparents in the 1890's. He has not heard either of the "teeth" versions, but he has a Swedish background.
> 
> Orange Blossom


 
Well, for me "to the teeth" is common enough, it's the removal of the "up" that I hadn't heard. I'm up to my teeth in this or that -- common. I'm fed to my teeth -- never heard that before.


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## mrbilal87

Orange Blossom said:


> Perhaps it's a combination of generation and where folks came from.  My father was born in 1922 and my grandparents in the 1890's.  He has not heard either of the "teeth" versions, but he has a Swedish background.
> 
> Orange Blossom



Perhaps. I only hear it used here among older age-groups, such as my grandfather. He was born here but his parents were of English decent.


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## emma42

I have never heard "fed to the teeth", but I don't mix much with persons over, say, 80 at the moment (nothing against them - it's just the way it is at the moment!).

I heard "Fed up to the back teeth" and "Fed up to here" a lot, though.


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## Conejillo

I think that, if you do hear the expression, in Britain it is common to include the "up", as in "fed *up* to the back teeth" (or even "fed up to the *hind* teeth" - a favourite of my Dad's and he's in his mid sixties).

I've lived in the U.S.A for about fifteen years now (mostly on the West coast) and I don't think that I've ever heard an American use the expression at all.


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## gaer

emma42 said:


> I have never heard "fed to the teeth", but I don't mix much with persons over, say, 80 at the moment (nothing against them - it's just the way it is at the moment!).
> 
> I heard "Fed up to the back teeth" and "Fed up to here" a lot, though.


Results 1 - 10 of about 27,500 for "Fed up to the back teeth".
Results 1 - 10 of about 3,920 for "Fed to the teeth" 
Results 1 - 10 of about 464 for "Fed to the back teeth".
Results 1 - 10 of about 618 for "Fed up to the teeth".

I don't really think that the more than three-thousand hits for "fed to the teeth" represent over 80 year-old usage!

I love "fed up to the back teeth", although if I get to that point, I'm more likely to go into "Joe Pesci mode" and say: "Okay, that's it…" 

Gaer


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## .   1

gaer said:


> I love "fed up to the back teeth",


So do I. This is one of the phrases that I love because it requires a little thought.

Fed up to the teeth is kind of sloppy. It does get a similar message across but it loses the punch of the original (now that's a phrase to associate with New Coke or could we say that the original 'fed up to the back teeth' has been _New Coked_ into 'fed up to the teeth'?).

Fed up to the back teeth is an observation and a potential warning.

The comlete statement is close to;

I've had a gut full of you and I am fed up to the back teeth. This means that the speaker has taken and swallowed a great deal of abuse or irritation from the listener but is prepared to take no more and will retalliate if pushed.

This is the warning. If the person on the receiving end of this tirade does not stop irritating the speaker the speaker has warned taht there is still some room around the front teeth to chew a few tender bits off the listener and spit them out.

.,,


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## Joelline

Like several others, I've never heard of "fed up to the (back or any other kind of) teeth." On the other hand, some expression kept nagging at me. Finally, I realized that I was thinking of "armed to the teeth"!

Beware the person who is fed up to the teeth and armed to the teeth!


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## gaer

Joelline said:


> Like several others, I've never heard of "fed up to the (back or any other kind of) teeth." On the other hand, some expression kept nagging at me. Finally, I realized that I was thinking of "armed to the teeth"!
> 
> Beware the person who is fed up to the teeth and armed to the teeth!


But if you are fed up to the back teeth, armed to the teeth, and ready to sink your teeth into the something, including someone who is bothering you, beware!


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## choylarn

gaer said:


> These days they just get "pissed".
> 
> Gaer


 
Here in New Zealand we say 'fed up to the back teeth'... and to 'get pissed' means to get drunk... to get 'pissed off' means to get fed up annoyed, brassed off etc.


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## gaer

choylarn said:


> Here in New Zealand we say 'fed up to the back teeth'... and to 'get pissed' means to get drunk... to get 'pissed off' means to get fed up annoyed, brassed off etc.


Right. "Pissed" is the same in the UK. I'm so used to moving from region to region while reading books that I completely forget about these possible mix-ups when writing.


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## mrbilal87

"Pissed" as "drunk" is used in some parts of Canada as well.


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## gaer

mrbilal87 said:


> "Pissed" as "drunk" is used in some parts of Canada as well.


Well, people who are pissed off and pissed are very dangerous!


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## mrbilal87

gaer said:


> Well, people who are pissed off and pissed are very dangerous!



I could well agree with that, but I think we're getting a bit off topic.


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## Orange Blossom

My latest theory:  If one has British ancestry, lives in England, or socializes with either of the previous, then one knows one or other of the phrases: fed up to the teeth, fed up to the back teeth, fed to the teeth etc.  Otherwise, I think, the expressions are unknown.

I have heard: armed to the teeth, and sink your teeth in - but these are completely different expressions with a different meaning.

Orange Blossom


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## coiffe

Well, no one has mentioned "fed up to the gills"! I'm astonished ... I thought this was universal.


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## .   1

coiffe said:


> Well, no one has mentioned "fed up to the gills"! I'm astonished ... I thought this was universal.


902 hits on Google makes for a small universe.

.,,


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## coiffe

. said:


> 902 hits on Google makes for a small universe.
> 
> .,,



Maybe so, but I bet every contributor to this thread has used that or heard it used ... google be damned!!


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## Joelline

Include me in the small universe of "fed up to the gills"!  Maybe the millions of us who get "fed up to the gills" just don't write it when we're online!


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## JamesM

"I've had it up to the gills" is familiar to me, but not "fed up to the gills".   I know it's an expression; I've seen a definition.  I am not familiar with it in everyday use, though.  "Had it up to the gills" has about the same number of Google hits (1,110), so it may just be a regional variation.


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## .   1

I'm with James on this one.
Fed to the gills sounds like fed to the lungs??
I do have vague memories of 'up to the gills' but that could so easily have been on TV or a movie.  My mind is now full of so many years worth of accumulated trivia that I am sometimes no longer sure of the source.

.,,


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## gaer

coiffe said:


> Maybe so, but I bet every contributor to this thread has used that or heard it used ... google be damned!!


I never heard it, never saw, never used it!


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## Orange Blossom

I haven't either.

Orange Blossom


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## gaer

Orange Blossom said:


> I haven't either.
> 
> Orange Blossom


That's why we come here, to learn new things. 

Gaer


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## cuchuflete

Feeding time in the aquarium?



> Results *1* - *10* of about *24,300* for * "up to the gills"*.


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## coiffe

Speaking of which, if I use this (for me) new phrase "fed up to the back teeth," would I say:

I'm fed up to the back teeth

or 

I'm fed up to my back teeth

??

The latter seems more probable, since there is personal frustration involved, but no one mentioned "my" back teeth, so ... ????


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## The Flaneur

Fed up to *the *back teeth. Have never heard people use "my", although I agree they both make sense.


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## gaer

cuchuflete said:


> Feeding time in the aquarium?


Results 1 - 10 of about 281 for "fed to the gills" 
Results 1 - 10 of about 1,000 for "fed up to the gills". 
Results 1 - 10 of about 26,800 for "fed up to the back teeth".
Results 1 - 10 of about 28,000 for "up to the back teeth". 

Apparently "up to the gills" is used very frequently without "fed".

Note that "up to the back teeth", without "fed" got less hits, obviously wrong.  

Just to clarify, my comment about never have heard "fed ___ gills" was not comment on usage, just my own ignorance. 

Gaer


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