A Lushy Lexicon of
Inebriated Vocabulary
While alcohol is thousands of years old, the word ‘alcohol’ is only 800 years old and it was taken from the Spanish Arabic ‘al-kuḥul ‘ which means ‘the kohl’’ (just like the makeup). The term was originally applied to powders or essences obtained by alchemists through the process of distillation. This included both substances for the face as well as liquid spirits of the intoxicating kind. The word ‘drunk’ is over five centuries old, having slipped into English from the Dutch word ‘buizen’ meaning “to drink to excess.” The grandfather of the word ‘drunk’ is ‘fordrunken’ and is a Middle English word that first appeared in Chaucer's tales.
According to Paul Dickson, lexicographer and author of “Drunk: The Definitive Drinker’s Dictionary,” there are 3000 words in the English language for alcohol and intoxication. These include ‘ramsquaddled’, ‘obfuscated’, and ‘tight as a tick.’ The English language has more synonyms for “drunk” than any other word. You’ll also find that the only subjects that fill the pages of English slang more are money and sex.
According to Paul Dickson, lexicographer and author of “Drunk: The Definitive Drinker’s Dictionary,” there are 3000 words in the English language for alcohol and intoxication. These include ‘ramsquaddled’, ‘obfuscated’, and ‘tight as a tick.’ The English language has more synonyms for “drunk” than any other word. You’ll also find that the only subjects that fill the pages of English slang more are money and sex.
- In 1737, Benjamin Franklin compiled 228 terms of intoxication in his Drinker’s Dictionary.
- H.L. Mencken added 25 terms to Franklin’s list in The American Language in 1921.
- In 1927, at the height of Prohibition, Edmund Wilson penned 105 terms of drunkenness, in ascending order, in “The Lexicon of Prohibition.”
- Langston Hughes compiled his own list in his 1958 column “How Many Words for Drunk” in the Chicago Defender.
- Paul Dickson held the Guinness World Record for the highest number of ways to say “drunk” (2,231) in 1983, and broke it 10 years later by adding 429 terms.
History of Wine
Wine has been produced for thousands of years. The earliest evidence of wine is from Georgia(6000 BC), Iran (5000 BC), and Sicily (4000 BC). There is evidence of a similar alcoholic drink being consumed earlier in China (c. 7000 BC). Wine reached the Balkans by 4500 BC and was consumed and celebrated in ancient Greece, Thrace and Rome.
Wine has long played an important role in religion. Red wine was associated with blood by the ancient Egyptians and was used by both the Greek cult of Dionysus and the Romans in their Bacchanalia; Judaism also incorporates it in the Kiddush and Christianity in the Eucharist.
The English word "wine" comes from the Proto-Germanic winam, an early borrowing from the Latin vinum, meaning “wine" or "(grape) vine", itself derived from the Proto-Indo-European stem *win-o. It was further derived by:
The earliest attested terms referring to wine are the Mycenaean Greek 𐀕𐀶𐀺𐄀𐀚𐀺 me-tu-wo ne-wo (μέθυϝος νέϝῳ), meaning "in (the month)" or "(festival) of the new wine" and 𐀺𐀜𐀷𐀴𐀯 wo-no-wa-ti-si, meaning "wine garden.”
Wine has long played an important role in religion. Red wine was associated with blood by the ancient Egyptians and was used by both the Greek cult of Dionysus and the Romans in their Bacchanalia; Judaism also incorporates it in the Kiddush and Christianity in the Eucharist.
The English word "wine" comes from the Proto-Germanic winam, an early borrowing from the Latin vinum, meaning “wine" or "(grape) vine", itself derived from the Proto-Indo-European stem *win-o. It was further derived by:
- Armenian: գինի, gini
- Ancient Greek: οἶνος oinos
- Aeolic Greek: ϝοῖνος woinos
- Hittite: wiyana; Lycian: oino
The earliest attested terms referring to wine are the Mycenaean Greek 𐀕𐀶𐀺𐄀𐀚𐀺 me-tu-wo ne-wo (μέθυϝος νέϝῳ), meaning "in (the month)" or "(festival) of the new wine" and 𐀺𐀜𐀷𐀴𐀯 wo-no-wa-ti-si, meaning "wine garden.”
History of Beer
The earliest archaeological evidence of fermentation consists of 13,000-year-old residues of a beer with the consistency of gruel, used by the semi-nomadic Natufians for ritual feasting, at the Raqefet Cave in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa in Israel.
In Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq), early evidence of beer is a 3,900-year-old Sumerian poem honoring Ninkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, which contains the oldest surviving beer recipe, describing the production of beer from barley via bread. Approximately 5,000 years ago, workers in the city of Uruk were paid by their employers in beer.
Beer was one of the most common drinks during the Middle Ages. It was consumed daily by all social classes in the northern and eastern parts of Europe where grape cultivation was difficult or impossible.
The word beer comes from old Germanic languages, and is with variations used in continental Germanic languages, bier in German and Dutch, but not in Nordic languages. The word was imported into the British Isles by tribes such as the Saxons. It is disputed where the word originally comes from.
Many other languages have borrowed the Dutch/German word, such as:
In Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq), early evidence of beer is a 3,900-year-old Sumerian poem honoring Ninkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, which contains the oldest surviving beer recipe, describing the production of beer from barley via bread. Approximately 5,000 years ago, workers in the city of Uruk were paid by their employers in beer.
Beer was one of the most common drinks during the Middle Ages. It was consumed daily by all social classes in the northern and eastern parts of Europe where grape cultivation was difficult or impossible.
The word beer comes from old Germanic languages, and is with variations used in continental Germanic languages, bier in German and Dutch, but not in Nordic languages. The word was imported into the British Isles by tribes such as the Saxons. It is disputed where the word originally comes from.
Many other languages have borrowed the Dutch/German word, such as:
- French bière
- Italian birre
- Romanian bere
- Turkish bira
- The Nordic languages have öl/øl, related to the English word ale.
- Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan have words that evolved from Latin cervisia, originally of Celtic origin.
- Slavic languages use pivo with small variations, based on a pre-Slavic word meaning "drink" and derived from the verb meaning "to drink".
LUSHY LEXICON
ALCOHOLIDAY - a 1913 New York Times article on portmanteaus includes the word alcoholiday, describing leisure time spent drinking.
AMETHYST - literally means ‘not drunk’ or ‘without drunkenness’, since the precious stone was thought to prevent drunkenness.
BLADDERCLOCK - the word for drinking the right amount of water so that you wake up at the right time in the morning.
BRANNIGAN - a drinking spree.
CAPERNOITED - slightly muddled in the head as a result of drink
CROPSICK - having a stomach ache from too much drink
DOUNDRINS - afternoon drinking.
FEARNOUGHT - a drink to keep up the spirits’; it is first recorded in Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel Ben-Hur.
GENEVERED - specifically to be drunk on gin; it appears in a work of 1759 by Edward Young.
HUMPTY-DUMPTY was the name given to a drink of ale boiled with brandy in the 17th century
MUCKIBUS - means drunkenly sentimental – it is first recorded in a 1756 letter by the Gothic novelist Horace Walpole.
OMBIBULOUS - H. L. Mencken coined the word ombibulous for someone who will drink anything. He used the word to describe himself.
POT-VALIANT - an old term meaning “courageous” because of drink
QUAFFER - a drink that is especially pleasant.
QUAFF-TIDE - an Elizabethan word meaning ‘the season for drinking’.
SHOTCLOG - a drinking companion who is tolerated because they pay for the drinks
SPIFFLICATED - American writer O. Henry coined the word spifflicated as a synonym for ‘drunk’.
STIFFENER - an alcoholic drink which revives you; the word first appears in a 1928 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers.
GIMME AN OLD FASHIONED
1564: TIPPLED - for tippler, the name for a tavern-keeper
1611: BUMPSY - inspired by the "staggering gait" of the inebriated
1627: HIGH - before Brits discovered weed, they sometimes referred to drunk people this way
1770: GROGGY - having had too much grog, the sailor's drink of rum and water
1811: LUSHY - from the slang "lush," meaning any kind of beer or liquor
1897: UP THE POLE - another nautical term, probably referring to a mast
1917: BLOTTO - as in, soaks up alcohol like blotting paper soaks up ink
1923: POGGLED - has its origins in the Hindi word pagal, for "madman"
1943: PLONKED - from "plonk," a facetious pronunciation of vin blanc, or white wine, this term became popular in Australia before spreading to other English-speaking countries.
1957: HONKERS - among its many possible roots is the slang verb "honk," or vomit.
1968: WASTED - you can thank the hippies for this one, which, according to Crystal, "suggests that the mind or body of the drunkard is analogous to land which has been devastated or ruined."
1611: BUMPSY - inspired by the "staggering gait" of the inebriated
1627: HIGH - before Brits discovered weed, they sometimes referred to drunk people this way
1770: GROGGY - having had too much grog, the sailor's drink of rum and water
1811: LUSHY - from the slang "lush," meaning any kind of beer or liquor
1897: UP THE POLE - another nautical term, probably referring to a mast
1917: BLOTTO - as in, soaks up alcohol like blotting paper soaks up ink
1923: POGGLED - has its origins in the Hindi word pagal, for "madman"
1943: PLONKED - from "plonk," a facetious pronunciation of vin blanc, or white wine, this term became popular in Australia before spreading to other English-speaking countries.
1957: HONKERS - among its many possible roots is the slang verb "honk," or vomit.
1968: WASTED - you can thank the hippies for this one, which, according to Crystal, "suggests that the mind or body of the drunkard is analogous to land which has been devastated or ruined."
DRUNKEN SLANG
A
- A guest in the attic
- Aced
- Afloat
- Amiably incandescent
- Annihilated
- Arseholed
- At peace with the floor
- Away with the fairies
- Backclamped
- Banjoed
- Banged-up
- Battered
- Beered up
- Been seeing Dr. Bottle
- Beer goggles on
- Betty Ford-ed
- Bevvied
- Beyond salvage
- Bibulous
- Blathered
- Blitzed
- Blootered
- Blotto
- Bladdered
- Boiled in the bag
- Buggered
- Buzzed
- Called the wharf cat
- Can’t lie down without holding on
- Chemically unbalanced
- Colt 45’d
- Chemically inconvenienced
- Comfortably numb
- Cork high and bottle deep
- Crapulent
- Cup stricken
- Dacked
- Destroyed
- Detained on business
- Driving home ’cause I can’t fucking walk
- Dripped to the tits
- Drunk as a lord
- Drunk as a judge
- Drunk as a newt
- Drunk as a skunk
- Embalmed
- Fallen from grace
- Fanny-bawed
- Fed his kitty
- Feeling his onions
- Fish-eyed
- Floored
- Fooked
- Fucked-up
- FUBAR (Fucked up beyond all recognition)
- Fuddled
- Furry
- Globular
- Got his nose wet
- Got his snowsuit on and headed North
- Got the gravel rash (the highest form of intoxication, according to 1884’s The Slang Dictionary or the Vulgar Words, Street Phrases, and ‘Fast’ Expressions of High and Low Society)
- Greased
- Hammer-blowed
- Hardwankered
- Has been paid
- Holding up the wall
- Inked
- In his cups
- Interplanetary
- Just south of bejesus
- Kentucky-fried
- Killed his day
- Lagered
- Laggo
- Lashes
- Leathered
- Legless
- Like Christmas
- Loaded
- Lubricated
- Lumped
- Manky
- Mary Queen of Scots
- Mashed
- Merle Haggard
- Merry
- Messy
- May he rest easy
- Mops and brooms
- Mullered
- Nailed to the floor
- N’awlins-ed up
- Nicely irrigated with horizontal lubricant
- Off their face
- Off me pickle
- Off the leash
- Off their head
- Off your tits
- Off the wagon
- On a bus
- Out of their tree
- Overcome
- Packaged
- Painted
- Paris Hilton in a car
- Paralytic
- Pinked
- Pished
- Pissed
- Pissed as a fart
- Plastered
- Plotzed
- Porcelain-ready
- Primed
- Pyjama’d
- Quilted
- Quishy
- Rammaged
- Rat-arsed
- Really
- Religious
- Rinsed
- Ripe and ready
- Road-hugging
- Rubbered
- Sailin’
- Scotched
- Screwed to the carpet
- Seeing double
- Seeing by twos
- Shit-canned
- Shit-faced
- Skinned
- Slaughtered
- Sloshed
- Sober impaired
- Sotally tober
- Sozzled
- Spinning without moving
- Squiffy
- Steamboats
- Stewed
- Studying snakes
- Swip
- Talking to Ralph on the big white phone
- Tanked up
- Three sheets to the wind
- Thawed
- Tile counting
- Tipsy
- Titted
- Top-heavy
- Too far north
- Totally and utterly carparked
- Transfused
- Trashed
- Tired and emotional
- Trollied
- Troattered
- Under the influence
- Unglued
- Up a tree
- Useless
- Varnished
- Vulcanized
- Wallpapered
- Wankered
- Wasted
- Wellied
- Well oiled
- Wettish
- Woozy
- Wrecked
- Written off
- Xylophoned
- Zippered
- Zombied
- Zorba’d
Bottoms Up!
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY
Sitting down so you won’t fall down
Sitting down so you won’t fall down
This site is a part of
A SERIES OF BEAUTIFUL WORDS BY KAI
The Collection Includes:
Defining the Brain: Website | Downloads (science)
A Beautiful Word: Website | Downloads (rare/obscure)
The Logophile Lexicon: Website | Book (literary)
Defining New Ideas: Website | Book (creativity)
Author Homepage: Bookshelf by Kairos (all my work)
Words posted by @kairosoflife on Twitter under the hashtag #beautifulwords and on my vocabulary bulletin boards on Pinterest.
Original content © 2020 Copyright, Kairos
A SERIES OF BEAUTIFUL WORDS BY KAI
The Collection Includes:
Defining the Brain: Website | Downloads (science)
A Beautiful Word: Website | Downloads (rare/obscure)
The Logophile Lexicon: Website | Book (literary)
Defining New Ideas: Website | Book (creativity)
Author Homepage: Bookshelf by Kairos (all my work)
Words posted by @kairosoflife on Twitter under the hashtag #beautifulwords and on my vocabulary bulletin boards on Pinterest.
Original content © 2020 Copyright, Kairos
