How to Say You're 'Dead Tired'
We all know what it's like to feel shattered at the end of a long day. If you're ever too tired to think of how to put that feeling into words, here are some expressions you can use.
If you're tired because you have been working hard or doing too much, you can say you are "tuckered out." This expression was first used in the US during the 19th century, with the word "tucker" based on the older word "tuck," which used to mean "to punish."
So if your son fell asleep while eating his dinner, you might say to your partner, "Looks like he's all tuckered out after a long day at school."
If someone feels like they have no energy to keep going, you can say they have "run out of steam." The expression comes from the time of steam trains, when a train would not be able to keep moving if it was not able to make enough steam.
So if your son often fell asleep during dinner, your partner might say, "We should have dinner earlier — he always runs out of steam at about this time."
If someone is very tired, you can say they're "dead tired." And if someone is so tired they feel like they could fall asleep at any moment, you can say they're "dead on their feet."
So you might say to your partner, "I'd love to eat dinner earlier. To be honest, I'm normally dead on my feet by this time too!"
