pick-me-up

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pick-me-up (plural pick-me-ups)

1. (informal) A drink, especially an alcoholic one, taken as a stimulant or sometimes as a hangover cure; a restorative, tonic or bracer.
   • 1873, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter VI, in Kenelm Chillingly: His Adventures and Opinions , volume II, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book IV, page 253:

     Adonis calls for a ‘pick-me-up’ before he has strength enough to answer a billet-doux from Venus. Adonis has not the strength to get nobly drunk, but his delicate constitution requires stimulants, and he is always tippling.

   • 1897, Edward Spencer, Cakes & Ale‎:

     Make half-a-pint of beef-tea in a tumbler with this extract. Put the tumbler in a refrigerator for an hour, then add a liqueur-glassful of old brandy, with just a dust of cayenne. This is one of the very best pick-me-ups known to the faculty.

   • a. 1911, David Graham Phillips, Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise‎:

     "I'm feeling fine today," pursued Gideon, advancing a step and so bringing himself about halfway to the table. "Had a couple of pick-me-ups and a fat breakfast. How are you?"

   • 1913 August, Jack London, John Barleycorn, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC:

     In fact I did not feel good. I was suffering from the morning sickness of the steady, heavy drinker. What I needed was a pick-me-up, a bracer.

   • 1934 October 5, P G Wodehouse, chapter V, in Right Ho, Jeeves, London: Herbert Jenkins , →OCLC:

     I have had occasion, I fancy, to speak before now of these pick-me-ups of Jeeves’s and their effect on a fellow who is hanging to life by a thread on the morning after. What they consist of, I couldn’t tell you. He says some kind of sauce, the yolk of a raw egg and a dash of red pepper, but nothing will convince me that the thing doesn’t go much deeper than that.

   • 1977, Stephen King, chapter 5, in The Shining:

     God, he needed a drink. Just a little pick-me-up to put things in their true perspective— […]

2. Something that improves one's mood.
   • 1919, Saki [pseudonym; Hector Hugh Munro], “The Sheep”, in R R, editor, The Toys of Peace and Other Papers. , London: John Lane, The Bodley Head , →OCLC:

     A month or so of winter sport seemed a desirable pick-me-up after the strenuous work and crowning discomfiture of the election.

   • 1986 April, Nancy Webster, Richard Woodworth, Inn Spots & Special Places in New England: A Guide to Where to Go, Stay, Eat and Enjoy in 30 of the Region’s Choicest Areas, West Hartford, Conn.: Wood Pond Press, published May 1988 (3rd printing), →ISBN, page 24:

     Those Austrian desserts we all know and love, sacher torte, linzer torte, apfelstrudel and the like, as well as Bavarian chocolate, peach torte and jailhouse pie, are $2.25 or $2.50 and — with a cup of cafe mocha — a delightful afternoon pick-me-up.

   • 2009, Tristan de Chalain, Wolf’s Paw, Eloquent Books, →ISBN, page 249:

     Have to keep reminding myself that I’m also a happily married woman—but it is nice to be noticed as a woman for a change (and to have my fantasy life given such a pick-me-up).

   • 2011, Christina Schofield, My Life and Lesser Catastrophes: An Unflinchingly Honest Journey of Faith, Chosen Books, →ISBN, page 107:

     Meeting Marlene had been such a pick-me-up, but at the same time, it was a grim reminder that Allen was not healed.

   • 2019, Cat Ellington, Memoirs in Gogyohka: A Book of Short Poems and Memoirs, Chicago, Ill.: Quill Pen Ink Publishing, →ISBN:

     Glen Medeiros and Bobby Brown are on KDWB right now performing She Ain’t Worth It, and it is such a pick-me-up.

   • 2019, Dan Gookin, Running For Local Office For Dummies®, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., →ISBN, page 231:

     Nothing brightens your day like an unexpected check in the mail, letter to the editor, or sign of support from a strong quarter. Such a pick-me-up is welcome, and frequently happens at a time where you most need a boost.

   • 2021, Annette Hannah, The Cosy Little Cupcake Van, Hachette, →ISBN:

     Carrie’s cats have been such a pick-me-up. There’s always one that needs a cuddle and there’s a lot to be said for fur therapy.

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