Knocked up

"Knocked up". In Australia this phrase is not used as a euphemism for Pregnant. It is used in the sense of being out of breath usually after hard exercise such as a game of rugby or a solid workout in the gym. "Knock" is however used as a euphemism for a Nookie or sexual intercourse - straight or gay.

"Knocked up" has been used in a similar sense in Britain since the mid-19th century, to mean not so much "out of breath" but "tired, jaded, worn out". You can be "knocked-up" by a long ordeal, or a bout of illness. (e.g. "You look a bit knocked-up; are you OK?")

More information in the archives: www.phrases.org.uk bulletin_board 13 messages 350.html

I read, I think, every word in that long thread about knockers of just about every description. I did not notice any discussion of apple knockers. Not that they are relevant to the question here. They concern knocking down rather than knocking up. SS

OK. What is an apple knocker?

The N.Y. State Museum used to put out a magazine called "The Conservationist," which had some interesting tales. It sometimes mentioned apple-knockers, and in one issue the editor noted that apple-knockers was a sort of nickname for upstate New Yorkers. Last year I wrote to the State Museum to ask if that was really true. They replied that they had never heard of apple-knockers. A year later they e-mailed again and said that they had Googled apple-knockers and found a reference from Michigan (which also has apples). But the man from the Museum vigorously denied knowing of any actual apple-knocking ever having gone on in New York State. Apple-knocking is a method of harvesting apples by knocking them to the ground with long sticks.

There are, of course, tons of phrases with "apple," and I see that apple-butter is still on sale in the supermarket. (It used to be in many lunchboxes in my childhood.) Two years ago I saw, on TV, the Miss Apple-Bottom U.S.A. contest. And on the VH1 channel there was a report that mentioned apple-breasts. Apparently they are much more in demand than either grapefruit breasts or apricot breasts. SS