Where does “screwed, blued and tattooed” come from?

screwed, blued and tattooed (English) comes from English screwed, from English screw, from Middle English screw, from Old French escroue, from Latin scrofa, from Proto-Indo-European (s)kerbʰ-, from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker-, from Proto-Indo-European sek- — to cut, cut off, sever.

screwed, blued and tattooed (English): Placed in a perplexing, very difficult situation, especially a situation in which one has been unjustly victimized

Definitions

  1. Placed in a perplexing, very difficult situation, especially a situation in which one has been unjustly victimized

Ancestry of “screwed, blued and tattooed”, step by step

screwed, blued and tattooed traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via English screwed

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishscrewedfucked, beset with unfortunate circumstances that...
2EnglishscrewA device that has a helical function; The motion...
3Middle Englishscrew
4Old Frenchescrouenut, cylindrical socket, screwhole; scroll, strip...
5Latinscrofasow
6Proto-Indo-European(s)kerbʰ-to scratch, scrape
7Proto-Indo-European(s)ker-to cut off; to turn, bend
8Proto-Indo-Europeansek-to cut, cut off, sever

via English tattooed

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishtattooedHaving with one or more tattoos; simple past...

via English blued

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishbluedsimple past tense and past participle of blue
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sek-
screwed, blued and tattooed — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer