Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to hit, to attack; usu. in phr. tan someone’s hide under hide n.

1677		Otway Cheats of Scapin II i: I’ll swinge it out of your already tann’d thick Hide.
1840		T. Haliburton Clockmaker III 42: I was so oncommon wrathy [...] I should have tanned his jacket for him.
1853		Dickens ‘Slang’ in Household Words 24 Sept. 75/2: For the verb to beat I can at once find [...] to hide, to tan, to larrup [etc.].
1864		Derby Day 64: If that kid’s napping, I’ll tan him within an inch of his life.
1879		‘’Arry on Niggers’ in Punch 15 Mar. 113/2: Injuns, Afghans, or Kaffirs, all’s one; for a Black is good only to tan.
1879		H. Hartigan Stray Leaves (2nd ser.) 183: [T]he inevitable stirrup- leather was [...] put in good and efficient condition to perform an operation on Jack’s skin popularly and vulgarly known as ‘tanning’.
1884		(con. c.1840) ‘Mark Twain’ Huckleberry Finn 40: I’ll lay for you, my smarty; and if I catch you about that school I’ll tan you good.
1906		J.W. Carr ‘Words from Northwest Arkansas’ in DN III:ii 160: tan one’s jacket, v. phr. To punish one.
1912		R.W. Brown ‘Word-List From Western Indiana’ in DN III:viii 591: tan one’s jacket, v. To whip one thoroughly with a stick or strap.
1914		‘Ian Hay’ Lighter Side of School Life 52: Do you remember how he tanned Goat Hicks for calling The Frog a cochon. Fourteen, wasn’t it?
1922		Joyce Ulysses 443: Tan his breech well, the upstart!
1936		J.T. Farrell World I Never Made 281: I’ll put him to bed on bread and water and tan his little behind.
1950		C. Harris Three-Ha’Pence to the Angel 35: Sounded as if ’e was tanning the arse orf one of ’em.
1957		G. Kersh Fowlers End (2001) 170: Git orf my grass, or I’ll tan that arse orf that!
1963		H.E. Bates Oh! To be in England (1985) 427: Upset you to tan the twins too, I expect?
1981		(con. 1922) P. Crosbie Your Dinner’s Poured Out! 87: If you don’t run off home now, I’ll tan your little arse.
1999		(con. 1916) R. Doyle A Star Called Henry (2000) 102: The Tommies’ll tan your arses for yis!
2018		I. Welsh Dead Man’s Trousers 132: I went tae see the cunt in hospital; after that car tanned him in.
2020		G. Armstrong Young Team 9: The McIntyres think he’s tryin tae muscle in n they tan him a beaut.

2. (also tan it) used fig. meaning to do something aggressively or to extreme, e.g. tan the bevvy, to drink heavily; thus n. tan, a swallow.

1980		Barltrop & Wolveridge Muvver Tongue 57: The kids have tanned that bag of cakes.
1998		I. Welsh Filth 253: I do some more lines before tanning a bottle of Grouse. [Ibid.] 330: I’m tanning it in the car, giving a daft spastic the V-sign as I cut him up.
2009		T. Black Gutted 96: I tanned a few cans.
2012		(con. 1980s) I. Welsh Skagboys 33: Wir tanning the Orbit sugar-free.
2020		G. Armstrong Young Team 16: We go doon the woods and tan our drink [ibid.] 65: A git passed an open bottle ae wine [...] n take a healthy tan oot it.

3. (UK black/gang) to cover/be covered in blood.

2018-20

T. Thorne (ed.) ‘Drill Slang Glossary’ at Forensic Linguistic Databank 🌐 Tan - turn red, stain with blood.