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I have recently posted a question in English Language and Usage the use of nailed, screwed, and hammered in one sentence. And I used this sentence for correction:

Can someone be so screwed because someone nailed an argument that made him hammered?

Someone commented that my sentence is wrong because I used the word hammered incorrectly. He stated that it means drunk.
However, according to my research about hammered, it can also mean to attack or criticize forcefully and relentlessly.

What does the slang word actually mean?

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Jaeger Jay
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    In your sentence, one would be unable to tell which figurative meaning is intended, since all three verbs can be used figuratively in a number of ways. Also, your phrases are not idiomatic: "be so screwed because" and "made him hammered". – TimR Jul 06 '15 at 12:37
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    I think if you re-worded the end of your sentence to say "an argument that hammered him", then you'd be conveying the intended meaning. The phrases still would not be idiomatic. – thelr Jul 06 '15 at 20:13

3 Answers3

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The problem you ran into is that idioms are often fixed grammatically—you have to use them in certain grammatical contexts for them to mean the same thing.

When you use "hammered" as an adjective, it can mean drunk, and usually doesn't mean attacked:

He is hammered.

He was so hammered.

It made him hammered.

We got him hammered.

When you use "hammer" as a transitive verb, it can mean attack, and usually doesn't mean drunk:

That will hammer him.

She hammered him.

They had hammered him.

Sometimes it can be ambiguous, without more context:

He had been hammered.

He got hammered.

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Dan Getz
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    +1 "made him hammered" is only going to refer to alcohol making someone drunk. – AndyT Jul 06 '15 at 14:55
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    But we would say "got him hammered". That moonshine got me so hammered. I got so hammered on that moonshine. I can't remember anything from that night. I was so hammered. – TimR Jul 06 '15 at 15:09
  • @TRomano yes, good example, I'll add it. – Dan Getz Jul 06 '15 at 17:32
  • "Made him hammered" actually sounds so non-idiomatic that it practically grates against my ear, and Google agrees: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#safe=active&q=%22made%20him%20hammered%22 – Kyle Strand Jul 06 '15 at 23:37
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    Also, I have never heard "hammered" used to mean "attacked" (even in the context of fantasy fiction involving warhammers). Even the sentence "that will hammer him" sounds to me like a statement about an alcoholic beverage. – Kyle Strand Jul 06 '15 at 23:38
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    @KyleStrand I have, in the context of "hammer it home", meaning to forcefully explain something leaving no room for argument. "He hammered him" can mean someone lost an argument with no doubt about that outcome. – gbjbaanb Jul 07 '15 at 09:56
  • People on internet forums sometimes get banhammered. – Cees Timmerman Jul 07 '15 at 12:53
  • @gbjbaanb I don't think "hammer it home" means "attacked", nor does it necessarily mean there's no room for argument; more to the point, I don't think it works as evidence for how the word "hammered" on its own works. – Kyle Strand Jul 07 '15 at 13:32
  • @KyleStrand "To get/be hammered" means to get/be drunk, as you say; "to be hammered for something" means to be severely and extensively criticized for it. – David Richerby Jul 07 '15 at 15:17
  • @DavidRicherby Okay, I guess I can see that usage. – Kyle Strand Jul 07 '15 at 15:23
  • For clarity, usually people use "hammered on" for the "attacked" sense. Compare these texts from someone at a bar: "Hey I'm getting hammered here" vs "Hey I'm getting hammered on here". One could assume the second text was regarding a fight or argument breaking out. – marcus erronius Feb 18 '16 at 23:44
  • So far as attacking/defeating someone is concerned, I get interestingly different top results for "football hammered" (without the quotes) on google.co.uk and google.com. In the UK, lots of headlines like "Manchester City hammered Stoke". In the US, stuff about Fred "The Hammer" Williamson and drunken college students. – Steve Jessop Feb 19 '16 at 01:51
  • I was late on my payment and the bank really hammered me with the fees. – Aaron McMillin Aug 18 '16 at 20:37
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Generally speaking, I believe that "hammered" is used in the sense of "drunk".

As for your comment, "that made him hammered" is, while grammatically correct, very unusual and likely to draw unfavorable attention. Worse, I do not think it conveys what you wanted to say.

If you meant to use it in the sense of being forcefully attacked, then perhaps you could have said: "Can someone be hammered with a solid argument so hard that it screws him up?"

LiveMynd
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I think you need some more context in your sentence:

  • "Nailed" can mean to hit the target precisely.
  • "Hammered" can mean either drunk, or attacked strongly.
  • "Screwed up" can mean to cause (someone) to be emotionally or mentally troubled.

To use all these in the way you may have meant:

His opponent nailed the argument so well that it just hammered him into such submission that he was totally screwed up to the point of being incoherent.

dale johnson
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