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What is the origin of the phrase "KNOCKED UP"?
As it relates to pregnancy. It just seems like a vicious term for getting pregnant.
2 Answers
- blueowlboyLv 52 decades agoFavorite Answer
During the mid to late 1800s, "knocked up" referred to injuring or impairing somebody. It's assumed that it morphed into a pregnancy reference due to the limitations that come with carrying a baby in the womb.
Possibly it is also related to knock in the sense of "to copulate with" (1598; cf. slang knocking-shop "brothel," 1860), according to the ONline Etymology Dictionary.
Source(s): http://www.mindlesscrap.com/stumpme/09-03.htm http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=k&p=3 - Deana GLv 52 decades ago
Eric Partridge, "A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English," 5th ed. (1961), says "knocked up" means (1) exhausted, (2) pregnant. For the second meaning, "low: C. 19-20; mainly U.S. [From] 'knock,' v. 1."
That definition of "knock" is "(Of a man) to have sexual intercourse (with): low coll.: late C. 16-20. . . . See 'nock,' n., for possible etymology."
