Sh - Page 193
short ued adj. Sufficiently drunk to reduce every vowel to the sound heard in ‘cut’, including those that ought not to be. short vowelled adj. Loosened by drink into a register where every word arrives clipped and the longer syllables have been left somewhere earlier in the evening. Delice came back from the bar short vowelled and finished three different sentences in one. short waved adj. You are drunk and broadcasting brief, powerful greetings that reach people before you do. Lucena went short waved, sending rapid farewells across the room while still beside Dandrea. short weighted adj. Of a drinker: giving less than promised, particularly when dividing the final round between friends. Turiya went short weighted and poured the last round with suspicious attention to the glass size. short whisted adj. Of a drinker who has reduced the evening to five points, four players and no route home. Trinty went short whisted and appointed partnerships among strangers at the taxi rank. short-answered adj. Emboldened by drink to give a full written response to any question, however simple, in sentences of diminishing relevance. Rashid got short-answered after the third round and explained the question before attempting it. short-arsed adj. A drinker who, after last night's exertions, has become notably limited in stature and ambition. short-assed adj. Drunk in a way that makes the smallest person in the room the most determined household authority. short-billed dowitchered adj. A drinker so far gone that the morning is spent probing every glass and puddle for water. short-billed marsh wrenned adj. The state of being drunk and issuing a small, persistent call from the dampest corner of the morning. Eivor was short-billed marsh wrenned, chirping faintly from beside the bathroom radiator. short-circuit operatored adj. Of a drinker: deciding early, under drink, that further information is unnecessary. short-coated adj. Drunk on the strength of a childhood certainty that formal clothes are now unnecessary. short-cutted adj. Drunk in a way that turns every journey into a quicker route with an unexplained destination. short-eared dogged adj. Drunk by the third round, and conducting quiet Amazonian investigations beneath every table. Nielle was short-eared dogged by the third round, conducting quiet Amazonian investigations beneath every table. short-eared foxed adj. Drunk by closing time, and convinced that every dim corner conceals an entirely different route home. short-eared owled adj. Still drunk, and hunting the room at night for movement that exists chiefly in peripheral vision.