Where "Maggot" Comes From
"Maggot" as a word for an extremely drunk person has a more specific origin than the obvious insect imagery suggests. The story traces to Scotland and northern England in the early 19th century, where the phrase "a maggot in the brain" described an eccentric or obsessive notion — a person who "had maggots" was maggoty: erratic, wild, and beyond reasonable control.
In Australia, this sense of mental excess and loss of control was extended to describe the extreme end of drunkenness. The word shifted from "maggoty" to "maggoted" and eventually simply "maggot," joining a long tradition of vivid, slightly grotesque Australian words for serious intoxication — munted, paralytic, stonkered — where the image does most of the explanatory work.
Source:
"He was absolutely maggot after the footy."
How Aussies Actually Use It
Almost always paired with "absolutely" or "totally" for extra emphasis — "he was absolutely maggot" leaves no doubt about the state someone was in after a big night.
It's blokey, blunt slang typically heard after footy matches, buck's nights, and other occasions built around heavy drinking.
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