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The Survey of College Words and Phrases by Eugene H. Babbitt published in 1900 lists the word owl-eyed to mean intoxicated. Any ideas as to why an owl-eyed person is an intoxicated person?

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    I find it odd that The Survey of College Words and Phrases by Eugene H. Babbitt appears to be mentioned in only three places on the entire Internet: both of them questions by you (though one of the other two is in an answer given by a different user). What exactly is this book, and where do you have it from?
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jun 20, 2014 at 0:34
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    ISBN-13: 9781130967814. Lots of digital copies on Ebay and Amazon.
    – long
    Commented Jun 20, 2014 at 2:47

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Sometimes people who get drunk get red/bloodshot eyes, like this:

human bloodshot eye

or this:

owl bloodshot eye .

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    That owl is completely smashed.
    – gardenhead
    Commented Jun 20, 2014 at 4:29
  • Your answer lots spot on, it could also be possible that this relates to drugs, such as cocaine as well, the 1900s was a rife period for the use of cocaine amongst most classes. Meaning it could have been a misinterpretation at the time or even a slang only the college students ever really understood. I'm not affirming, but it's possible, due to the nature of cocaine's effects.
    – Pro ingles
    Commented Jul 7, 2014 at 2:50

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