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I have often heard people say

I could drink you under the table

or

Mary drank Joe under the table

This typically means that someone could drink more alcohol than someone else.

What is the origin of this phrase?

It doesn't seem to make much sense to me at face value.

Sorry, I couldn't find any public uses of this phrase as I have never read it, I have only heard it used in conversation.

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3  
When you drink too much alcohol, one common ailment is that you pass out. So to drink someone under the table would mean to drink so much that one of them would pass out and end up under the table. – OghmaOsiris Oct 28 '11 at 15:45
Pretty much all the answers are the same, ahahaha. – Mahnax Oct 28 '11 at 15:50
Or, as Dorothy Parker said, One more drink and I'll be under the host.' – Barrie England Oct 28 '11 at 16:53
@Barrie: The way I heard it, it was One more drink and I'll be under the the table, two more drinks and I'll be under the host. – FumbleFingers Oct 28 '11 at 17:56
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Been researching on the Internet for a while. Now I have to give up. This question has challenged me under the table! – Terry Li Oct 28 '11 at 20:26
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6 Answers

up vote 9 down vote accepted

When you drink enough, one or the other person will eventually slide off his seat, ending up under the table.

Reference: past experience

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8  
+1 for the reference (if I weren't at the daily limit already) – Jim Oct 28 '11 at 15:48
-1 for the question though. As an Okie, my past experience tells me someone from Little Rock should have already known this. :-) – T.E.D. Nov 2 '12 at 19:39
up vote 6 down vote

It comes from the idea of two people competing to drink the most, or sitting at a table together matching each other shot-for-shot. By the end of it, the loser is likely to be very intoxicated and on the floor (under the table). Therefore, the winner "drinks the loser under the table"

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up vote 6 down vote

Found this possible first recorded use of the phrase in Count Benyowsky; or, The Conspiracy of Kamtschatka, 1798 (check) by August von Kotzebue:

http://books.google.com/books?id=7V4HAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA28&dq=%22drink+*+under+*+table%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dnQGT8DVMcjDgQek4aSMBw&ved=0CE4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22drink%20*%20under%20*%20table%22&f=false

The full line reads:

He will drink you under the table, though you should have been all your life a tapster at a gin shop.

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You took your time finding it, but impressive diligence, as ever. My work here is done, so I'll delete my 1809 one. I can only give you one vote though - the other 5 will just get lost somewhere in the system... – FumbleFingers Jan 6 '12 at 4:54
up vote 3 down vote

The earliest in the OED is from before 1636. The earliest I found is from the 1638 The Soules Preparation for Christ: a Treatise of Contrition by Thomas Hooker:

There are many that defpight the fpitit of gra- cr, and stick not to fay, I did fweare fuch a man ont of the houfe , and I did drinke fuch a man under the table dead:

There are many that despight the spirit of grace, and stick not to say, I did sweare such a man out of the house, and I did drinke such a man under the table dead

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up vote 2 down vote

I believe this came from drinking contests (possibly in saloons). They would drink until one of them had passed out or collapsed (under the table), and simply means that I can drink more alcohol than you.

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I don't think we really need invoke drinking contests in [wild west?] saloons. It's natural macho behaviour for men the world over. I just think it's a bit of a bummer for many Asian guys when the "dueling pistol" is in fact alcohol. – FumbleFingers Oct 28 '11 at 22:41
up vote 2 down vote

Earliest evidence in OED is from around 1636, by an author called Rogers:

"They get Beer of extraordinary strength, and...make matches who shall drink each other drunk under the Table."

The sense was evidently that a person became so drunk that he could no longer sit or stand, but ended up lying under the table. So, it's obviously much earlier than the saloons of the Wild West, but the quotation does suggest that it might have started off with drinking contests ("matches").

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"a 1636" in the OED means "before 1636" (a is for ante). – Hugo Nov 14 '12 at 15:01
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Yup, I know. It means it was written before the author died in 1636. Likely not too long before he died, in most cases, hence I decided on the more general "around". I'll be more precise in future! Thanks :) – Berthilde Nov 14 '12 at 15:17

protected by Will Hunting Nov 14 '12 at 12:20

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