APAD: Full of piss and vinegar

Meaning:

   Rowdy, boisterous, full of youthful energy.

 

Background:

   The earliest citation I've found is from 1936 in John Steinbeck's novel In

   Dubious Battle:

     "Listen, mister," London said, "them guys is so full of piss and vinegar

     they'll skin you if you show that slick suit outside."

 

   Steinbeck was clearly pleased with the phrase (although it is unlikely that

   he coined it himself) and repeated the use of it 1938 in his better known

   novel The Grapes of Wrath:

 

     Grampa walked up and slapped Tom on the chest, and his eyes grinned with

         affection and pride. "How are ya, Tommy?"

     "O.K.," said Tom. "How ya keepin' yaself?"

     "Full a piss an' vinegar," said Grampa.

 

   Peter B. Kyne's 1922 novel "They Also Serve" includes what seems to be a

   straightforward polite alternative to `piss and vinegar':

 

     "He's full of pep and vinegar and wild for exercise."

 

   Vinegar has been in the language as the name of the familiar liquid since the

   12th century. During the 1920s vinegar was used to mean vitality and energy

   and that's the meaning in `piss and vinegar' and `pep and vinegar'. At that

   time many phrases indicating a general perkiness and vitality entered the

   language, often for no other reason than linguistic exuberance.

 

- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]

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I have personally witnessed two types after a certain age, let's say 70. The

first waste away in bitterness and fear despite of having all the care they

need. The second, oblivious to the wonders of high-tech and modern medicine, run

around full of piss and vinegar till the end.