Besotted — Etymologically, That Is

As far as I’m aware, English has the richest vocabulary of any language when it comes to describing the effects of alcohol upon human behavior. I think that that’s because the British have been constant and heavy drinkers for most of their history. From the Anglo-Saxon invasions to the Industrial Revolution, they’ve been getting beodrunken, foxed, tipsy, pie-eyed and woozey. Indeed the English have developed an entire lexicon to express different nuances of the same condition.

This claim may reflect some cultural bias :-)> I have studied German, Russian, and Irish, all of which cultures have a rich tradition in this field. However, the way that English has travelled around the globe, and incorporated words from languages it has encountered everywhere, may give it an edge just from the shear volume of source material.

The habit has traveled with the language: in America, in particular, English speakers have sought to expand the range of euphemisms for inebriation. In January 1736, Benjamin Franklin published “a new Piece, lately communicated to me, entitled the DRINKERS DICTIONARY” in the Philadelphia Gazette, which offered 228 “distant round-about phrases,” culled from the taverns of the town, which were understood “to signify plainly that A MAN IS DRUNK.”

I need to get a copy of this!