Dottee

jody, I wonder if it's a regional thing, then? I'm from Michigan originally and I've never heard it until last week. Just to be cute, I used it last night when I went out to dinner with six friends. They all looked at me with a puzzled expression. Of course they all think I'm sort of crazy anyway.

Dukey

If "tuck" means something that requires exertion or using energy then that would explain the phrase "all tuckered out."

audere_est_facere

It's probably most famously used in the Philip Larkin poem This be The verse:

"They tuck you up, your mum and dad
They may not mean to but they do"

EnglishOne

Oh the good old days of popping down to the Tuck Shop to grab a Mars Bar or packet of Discos Better than smoking a *fag* (oohh errr Matron! Let the double entendres fly) behind the bike sheds anyway!

Mathieu

The British boarding school that I went to had a tuck shop. It was only opened during morning break (10.10 - 10.30am) and during lunch 12.00 - 2.00.
It sold all kinds of sweets and chocolates, pop (soda) and light snacks in a dazzling display, from a small counter in the doorway. Our favourite 'buys' as 8 year old kids were a packet of curried peas and an ice cream soda. Those were the days ! (the 70s)

Cimbrone

It's most commonly used in the U.S. in the context of, "Get into bed now! I'll be in soon to tuck you in!" Do they say this anywhere else?

waring

English too. To tuck the kids into bed.

I had an aunt who used to specialise in tucking the sheets in so tight you couldn't move.

Christina

That's the only way I've heard it used in the US, also. I've never heard it used to mean start eating in the US, and I've lived in a variety of places throughout the US (Midwest, California, East Coast and Oklahoma).

Dottee

Yes, to 'tuck-in' where I grew up meant giving the little ones bedtime kisses, stories, and any other final comforts, but it had nothing to do with food.

Thanks for all the info, everyone. And since it is lunchtime, I think I'll go and tuck-in now. Cheerio!

waring

Tucking is the action of pushing the sheets under the mattress, similarly as in to tuck your shirt in.

Again, your sheets, as well as your shirt, can be untucked.

Dukey

Just don't eat so much that you end up being "tuckered out."

Dottee

Thanks, Dukey! I'll try not to eat so much that I end up looking like Friar Tuck. (groan...and apologies)

PatrickLondon

>>a packet of curried peas and an ice cream soda<<

I hope teacher opened the window in the afternoon......

Mathieu

Patrick, they were peas, not beans (deep fried until hard and crunchy, with salt and chili powder). Big gastro difference (to us anyway).

CAPH52

I'm with you, jody. Although I've probably heard "dig in" used more often than "tuck in".

jody

Might be that my family used tuck in meaning to eat because they are English and Irish.

highflyer

audere... I think Larkin used a different spelling of 'tuck' in that poem.

Dottee

That's funny, highflyer! Had to check back to the poem to see what you meant, though, she says blondly...

I also love the candy shop memories from our UK friends. Such a different world. The student store in our school carried the usual...Junior Mints and Whoppers and those plump little caramel things that stuck in your teeth. Nothing as exotic as curried peas!