Meat and drink in this phrase has two meanings, which appear to be independent of each other. Either, to be a source of support or pleasure or, to be a simple and routine matter.
It is meat and drink to me
What's the meaning of the phrase 'It is meat and drink to me'?
What's the origin of the phrase 'It is meat and drink to me'?
It isn’t clear which of those two meanings is intended in the earliest known use of the phrase – John Frith’s, A boke answering vnto M. Mores lettur, 1533:
“It is meate and drinke to this childe to playe.”
Shakespeare used the phrase in As You Like It, 1600, and the meaning there is clearly the former:
“It is meat and drinke to me to see a Clowne.”
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