throwed off

The expression throwed off, like the blues, comes from the South. And although we are all taught “throw, threw, thrown” in grammar class, throwed is actually a more common past or past participle form in classic American blues music. As Janis Joplin sang in the traditional Black Mountain Blues, “I had a man in Black Mountain, the sweetest man in the town, but then he met a city gal, that's when he throwed me down.”

Used alone as an adjective, throwed usually means drunk. In South Park Mexican’s song Watch the Block Bleed, he says, “Man I'm so blowed, man I'm so throwed, somebody grab the wheel - I can't see the road.” Blowed is hip hop slang for high on marijuana.

But throwed is not always so cheerfully irresponsible. As Usher says in his Confessions Part II, when he learns that his second girlfriend is pregnant, “Damn near cried when I got that phone call, I'm so throwed and I don't know what to do.” Throwed here is more like thrown off (surprised and confused).

A. C. Kemp | July 8, 2004