Drunkenness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Drunkenness, in its most common usage, is the state of being intoxicated by consumption of ethyl alcohol to a degree that mental and physical facilities are noticeably impaired. Common symptoms may include slurred speech, impaired balance, poor coordination, flushed face, reddened eyes and uncharacteristic behavior. Without being inebriated, a drinking person may be described as "buzzed" or "tipsy" while experiencing these symptoms to a lesser degree.
A person who is habitually intoxicated in this manner is sometimes labeled, correctly or incorrectly, an alcoholic, often referred to as a "drunk" (a shortened form of the more traditional term "drunkard") or colloquially by any number of slang terms, such as alkie, waster, wino, lush, soak, alchy, etc. The popularity of particular terms (like all slang) varies from region to region.
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[edit] Religious views
Many religious groups permit the consumption of alcohol but prohibit intoxication, and some prohibit alcohol consumption altogether, such as Islam, where it is considered as an abomination in the Quran and Hadith.
The Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church states in paragraph 2290: "The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others' safety on the road, at sea, or in the air." The Church does not prohibit the use of alcohol if it is done in moderation; and indeed, the ritual use of alcoholic altar wine during the Mass is central to the Roman Catholic liturgy.
Nearly every Protestant Christian denomination has a prohibition on drunkenness due to the Biblical passages condemning it (Proverbs 23:21, Isaiah 28:1, Habakkuk 2:15, et al).
[edit] Law
Laws on drunkenness vary between countries. In the United States, for example, it is commonly a minor offense for an individual to be so intoxicated in a public place that he is unable to care for his own safety or the safety of others. This degree of intoxication is considerably higher than the standard for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs ("drunk driving"), which commonly requires intoxication to the degree that mental and physical facilities are impaired.
In the United Kingdom, police forces frequently target those deemed too intoxicated and arrest them on a charge of "Drunk and disorderly".
There are often many legal restrictions relating to sale and supply of alcohol, and particularly relating to those persons under eighteen years of age (twenty-one in some jurisdictions) or to somebody who is already intoxicated.
[edit] Quotations
- "I'm not so think as you drunk I am." - Major Margaret Houlihan in M*A*S*H
- "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has this advice to offer on drunkenness: 'Go to it,' it says, 'and good luck'. "
- "You're drunk, disgustingly drunk!" "And you're ugly, disgustingly ugly! But tomorrow I shall be sober." - A drunken Winston Churchill responds to Bessie Matlock MP.
- "A woman drove me to drink and I never had the common courtesy to thank her." - WC Fields
- "You're not drunk if you can still lie on the floor without holding on." - Dean Martin
- "The man drinks the first glass [of sake], the second glass drinks the first, the third glass drinks the man." - Japanese proverb
- "I dunno, I was very drunk at the time..." - recording studios doorman sampled repeatedly on Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon
- "Some of the nicest people I have ever met were in pubs- Oliver Reed
- "One Tequila, two Tequila, three Tequila, Floor." -unknown
[edit] See also
- Effects of alcohol on the body
- Addiction
- Alcoholic beverages
- Alcoholism
- Beer goggles
- Ethanol
- Hangover
- Pub crawl
- Squeans
- List of iconic drinkers
- Drunken Fist
[edit] Further reading
- Bales, Robert F. Attitudes toward Drinking in the Irish culture. In: Pittman, David J. and Snyder, Charles R. (Eds.) Society, Culture and Drinking Patterns. NY: Wiley, 1962, pp. 157-187.
- "Out of It. A Cultural History of Intoxication" by Stuart Walton. (Penguin Books, 2002) ISBN 0-14-027977-6
- "Modern Drunkard" magazine - a humorous magazine about drink and the art of getting drunk
