5

In this film clip one of the characters says "I'm jacked... I'm jacked to the tits!!!" - what does this mean in this context and other contexts?

Improve this question
1
  • 2
    It means excited, full of energy, ready to do something; same as "jacked up." It can be completely natural (an adrenaline rush) or drug-fueled.
    – Mark Hubbard
    Commented Dec 16, 2016 at 16:25

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
8

In this context "jacked" is a slang term similar to "high", meaning "under the influence of a powerful (usually illegal) drug. If I had to guess at its origin, I imagine it's a picturesque metaphor of your body plugged into an electrical socket, and therefore "full of energy" or "lit up". So it's most often used to refer to the use of drugs that make you feel especially powerful or energetic (like cocaine or perhaps steroids).

"Jacked to the tits," is a colorful metaphor that simply means "very high". In this film clip I don't know if the character is actually under the influence of a drug, but he feels as if he is high -- he's almost uncontrollably excited.

You should be careful not to confuse this with other slang terms that use "jacked". In some dialects, "jacked" or "jacked up" means "to have some injury or incapacity". For example, I could say something like:

I woke up this morning and my neck was jacked up (my neck hurts). I must have slept weird.

She ran her car off of the road and her body was jacked for months after.

Of course, you can use both, for fun:

He was totally jacked last night but after he came down he was jacked up all the next day.

There are other slang uses of "jacked". In some contexts it can mean "stolen" (as an abbreviation of "hijacked"):

Dude! My car got jacked last night!

Or as previously mentioned, as the verb meaning "to plug into an electrical outlet" (based on the noun "jack: a female fitting in an electric circuit used with a plug to make a connection with another circuit"):

Hey could you jack my guitar into the amp?

It's a fun word. Remember, though -- slang isn't universal. I don't know if these meanings will translate anywhere English is spoken. Also it's constantly evolving, so terms can take on a different nuance over time.

Here is a list of various other definitions for "jack", although even this is not complete

Improve this answer
10
  • 1
    AmE speaker here: I've never heard "jacked up" to mean "hurt" or "ruined," but I'm pretty old so I may be out of touch. Also, one can be jacked up without using illegal drugs -- the body naturally produces adrenaline. Otherwise, this is an excellent answer!
    – Mark Hubbard
    Commented Dec 16, 2016 at 16:39
  • 2
    A female Australian grad student who served as a Resident Advisor in the university dormitories came to breakfast looking unusually tired one morning and said, "I got knocked up at 3:00 a.m.," and then wondered why we all laughed. When we asked her if she was going to the football game to "root for the team," she turned bright red. Ah, the vagaries of English slang. :-)
    – Mark Hubbard
    Commented Dec 16, 2016 at 16:49
  • 5
    Another slang meaning of "jacked" is "muscular", by the way.
    – Patrick Stevens
    Commented Dec 16, 2016 at 21:17
  • 1
    FWIW, I first heard "jacked up" to mean "messed up" about twenty years ago, in urban Michigan.
    – 1006a
    Commented Dec 16, 2016 at 21:59
  • 3
    @MarkHubbard I've often heard 'jacked up' used as a synonym of 'f%cked up' and not in the drunk or drugged sense. I think it might be the first way I heard it used outside of car maintenance. I think 12-15 years ago. I also know of a kids rhyme with the phrase "mess with me and I'll jack you up"
    – JimmyJames
    Commented Dec 17, 2016 at 2:23
0

Specifically in the big short I believe I'm jacked means I am extremely leveraged in terms of the commissions he has to pay on his investments because they were rated far more highly than they were valued in reality he asked Mark Baum if he could feel that and Mark said no. it's not about the in high

Improve this answer
2
  • Not about being high
    – Vaughn
    Commented May 18, 2023 at 11:37
  • Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
    – Community Bot
    Commented May 18, 2023 at 17:49

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .