the.com/wired
That electric buzz where exhaustion and caffeine throw a party in your nervous system.
means Feeling tense, jittery, and over-alert — keyed up and unable to relax, often from caffeine, adrenaline, or sleeplessness.
from From wire, the metal thread that carries electricity. The figurative "wired" leans on the image of a live circuit — taut, charged, humming with current. As electrical wiring became part of everyday life, the slang sense of a person buzzing like a charged cable followed naturally, and the caffeine-and-nerves meaning settled into common use in the 20th century.
- slang origin
- Meant drug-fueled alertness before meaning internet-connected
- sleep enemy
- Caffeine blocks adenosine, the molecule that tells you rest
- magazine fame
- Wired launched in 1993, predicting the digital future
- fight or flight
- Adrenaline literally wires your body for sudden action
wired magazine — monthly tech and culture publication founded in 1993 by louis rossetto
wired uk — british edition of wired launched in 1994
the wired cock pub — historic pub in ironbridge, england, dating to 1780