Saturday night palsy

Meaning

Noun

• Paralysis due to radial nerve compression in the arm, resulting from direct pressure against a firm object.

Related

Narrower meaning words

• honeymoon palsy

Origin

• Introduced mistakenly as a simplification of saturnine palsy, a complication of lead poisoning which has a similar presentation.
• Folk etymology associates it with carousing and intoxication on Saturday nights, which causes the individual to fall asleep in unnatural positions, such as on a chair or bed with one arm hanging over the edge.