The word hammered is used in many ways throughout the English language and has a variety of meanings for the uses it has.

         Hammered can be used as many parts of speech.  The root word in hammered is hammer, the definition of this part of speech is a tool to pound something with when used this way it show an action, which is a verb.  When a person says �to hammer� it is used as a particle of a sentence.  If one would want to use hammered as a past participle it would be worded as such, to be hammered up.  When used in an active sentence it is, I hammered the nail.  If one chose to use it as an adjective, one would say something along the lines of hammer-like.

         The term according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in the first listing means �beaten or shaped with a hammer.�  Also in the OED it lists a second meaning.  It is listed as, �Of grapes: Having innumerable marks as if they had been hammered into shape, a result of good cultivation.�  Another definition of hammered refers to a sporting events.  When a sports team loses very badly a person might say, �Wow that high school really hammered our soccer team.�  Another way  people could use the word hammered is if they got into a fight they might say, �I hammered on that kids face until blood began to seep from both sides of his head.�

         Unfortunately the Oxford English Dictionary does not list hammered in the most common sense that I tend to use it as.  When I use this word I tend to refer to my mental and physical state when I am drinking.  The only place that listed hammered term the way I use it was the Thematic Dictionary of American Slang.  The definition listed in the dictionary is �alcohol intoxicated.�

         Hammered was first used in 1522 when Bury Wills stated, �A ewer of pewter hamerd (hammered).�  This was found in the Oxford English Dictionary.    When Wills first stated this I am sure he was not using it in the sense my friends and I commonly use the word as. In today�s sense most people do not use the term as Wills suggested in the OED.  When used in modern terminology hammered means to pound something or beat something in the past tense.  For example I might say: I hammered the nail for the drywall into the studs.  In the English language this word is a verb that is in the past tense.  When people use this word they may use some hand gestures like they are swinging a hammer.  The word hammered is also related to the word pound.  When one is hammering something that person may also say he or she is pounding that object.

         Another way of using this term is as an adjective.  In this sentence Shaks, a person from early Europe states, �To spoile (spoil) Antiquities of hammerd (hammered) steele (steel).�  This was taken out of the OED.  In this sense, he is referring to the steel being forged by the pounding of it so as to form a shape or figure out of the steel.  Most of the people today do not use the word hammered in this sense because the term is a rather out dated version and is no longer useful to the English language today.  This term is similar to the word forged which means that an object was cast or formed by the process of beating it with a blunt object until the piece of metal suited the persons needs.  In today�s society we would most likely use forged rather than hammered in this sense.  When Shaks made his remark he was referring to hammered in the same sense as Wills referred to it in the previous paragraph.  An example of an object that is hammered or forged in the early European era is a sword.

         In the year 1671 Milton a Samson stated, �The hammered cuirass.�  This was taken from the Oxford English Dictionary.  This term again links to the past two uses of the term and can still be related to forged.  On the other hand, the poet Dryden wrote, �I had certainly been reduced to pay the publick (public) in hammered money, for want of milled.�  I found this quote in the OED. Dryden was referring to coin money that was hammered out of a valuable mineral in his quote.  Also  in 1816 Keatinge made the remark during a play, �The quays.. faced with hammered stone.�  This quote was in the OED.  When used in this sense it is referring to a stone object forged into the shape of a weapon of some sort to be used for violent purposes by primitive society.

         Barry used hammered in the dockyard terminology stating, �If rolled armour-plates were to be pronounced superior to hammered plates.�  This was taken from the Oxford English Dictionary.  It is to my belief that Barry was stating that in making ship armor the rolled plates were better than hammered plates.

         The other definition listed in the Oxford English dictionary refers to grapes.  In 1882 it was stated �The berries of the Vines with their roots outside were hammered, while those on the inside were not.�  I think when this comment was made the person stating it meant that the vines had a lot of grapes on them.
 When I first thought of hammered, I thought it would not have anything to do with the Oxford English Dictionary.  When I use the term hammered I am usually using it when I am around close friends.  The term normally arises after we have consumed large quantities of alcoholic beverages.  My friend will usually ask me how I am feeling and I will respond with an answer similar to this, �Brother I am really hammered up right now.�  In this sentence I am using hammered as a verb describing how I am feeling at the exact moment of the answer.  This could have derived back in the 1970�s or the early 80�s. I believe that this term came about when a person said they were hammered and it was relating to the way it was used long ago because they may feel like they were hit over the head with something.  There are no real gestures that coincide with this term when a person is hammered, but it is usually accompanied with some helpless swaying and/or some stumbling about the area.  When I say someone else is hammered usually a look of disgust overcomes my face, because they are usually acting stupid.

         This term may have come into more common use within the last twenty years due to the influx of binge drinking.  About twenty years ago binge drinking was not as large a problem as it is in today�s teen society.  I believe it is due to the binge drinking problem that my definition of hammered may have come into use during the last twenty years.  With this in mind the term probably has only been used in the meaning that I  use it in within the last two or three generations. This term has changed in meaning greatly from the way it was first used meaning something forged to the meaning I now use hammered.
 A few alternative terms that may be used in the context that I use hammered in might include, but are not limited to, plastered, inebriated, slammed, crushed, intoxicated, or, more plainly, drunk.  These terms may arise in many different situations.  The first terms are a less formal way of conveying the idea of intoxication.  They may pop up in a conversation at a party with some friends or they could be in a conversation at the neighborhood tavern.  The word drunk is used most commonly of all of the terms.  It is almost universal in its use.  If a person says he or she is drunk, then it is almost a given that they have had too much alcohol and are surely not in clear state of mind to do a lot of things including driving.  Also a parent talking to a son or daughter that came home from a party may ask if they are drunk.  I personally do not believe he or she would ask if they were inebriated or slammed.  Drunk a is more formal term than the rest, with the exception of intoxicated.  Intoxicated usually is reserved for legal or judicial terminology.  When used in legal or judicial context it normally appears when somebody has been drinking and driving.  The charge this refers to is DWI or driving while intoxicated.  In Pennsylvania this charge is more commonly known as DUI or driving under the influence of a controlled substance.  This term may also be used with the charge public drunkenness or more commonly disorderly conduct.

           Some more terms that may coincide with the first Oxford English Dictionary definition are forged, beat, or pounded.  Beat carries more than one meaning the same as pounded does too.  Beat can mean to hammer into shape or in a competitive meaning to defeat.  Pounded typically means the same as both of the definitions that were listed for beat.  When someone wants to use pounded, a person may say he or she pounded the nail or that basketball team really pounded the other one.  If a person uses beaten they could say that team has beat us several times or he or she could say I beat the piece of metal till it was totally flat.

         All of the definitions for hammered are totally exceptable in the English language today.  I can not understand why the Oxford English Dictionary does not list hammered in the context I use it in.  I feel that it should be introduced into this prestigious dictionary, so it can be officially recognized as a regular term and not just a slang term.  Do to hammered�s frequent use among today�s society it should and some day may be accepted into the Oxford English Dictionary.
 
Jared Rhoads