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In his cups

Posted by ESC on December 21, 2000

In Reply to: In your cups posted by emma reynolds on December 21, 2000

: This phrase means to get drunk. But does this mean "sad" drunk or "happy" drunk?
: Hope you can help!!!!!

I think it means "happy drunk."

IN HIS CUPS - "Drunk. Long ago the phrase meant both drunk and participating in a drunken bout. It appears in one of the Apocyrphal books of the Bible (I Esdras 3:22): 'And when they are in their cups, they forget their loue(love) both to friends and brethren.' The Romans had similar expressions, such as Cicero's 'in thy cups, in the midst of thy revels' (in ipsis tuis immanibus poculis), suggesting the great age of the association of 'cup' (poculum) and 'carousal.'" The Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985).

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