# What is the definition of being drunk?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 25, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027 "2008-02-25T01:27:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027/1 "2008-02-25T01:27:55Z")
What is the actual definition of being drunk? I think most of us know a drunk when we see one, but is there an actual definition?
Is it being sufficiently intoxicated to affect your judgement?
Is it sufficiently intoxicated to lose self-control?
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2008, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027/2 "2008-02-25T01:32:23Z")
It’s like pornography, you know it if you see it.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027/3 "2008-02-25T01:36:03Z")
Well, there’s the legal definition: your country, state, province, may differ.
As George Carlin states; “if he’s legally drunk then what’s the problem? It’s legal!”
So I’m not sure what you’re asking. I can be shitfaced and completely realize what’s happening. Or I can have 8 beers, wake up the next day and forget going to bed.
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### Author:  [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027/4 "2008-02-25T02:34:45Z")
Not sure what you’re asking, either, but DUI is cut of in most US states at .08 BAC. One drink of 5oz wine, 12oz beer, or 1.5oz hard alcohol is generally accepted to raise your BAC .02, while your body can process and expel one drink an hour (depending on your body weight). There’s a handy chart here that shows BAC and its effects:
> **[Blood alcohol content](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_alcohol_content)**
>
> Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes; it is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume of blood. For example, a BAC of 0.10 (0.10% or one tenth of one percent) means that there is 0.10 g of alcohol for every 100 mL of blood, which is the same as 21.7 mmol/L. A BAC of 0.0 is sober; in different countries the maximum permitted BAC when driving ranges from about 0.02 As ...
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027/5 "2008-02-25T02:47:58Z")
The definition of drunk is “having had too much to drink.” Kind of a subjective thing. The law uses something measurable, but some people function pretty well at legally drunk blood alcohol levels.
If you want to talk about anything besides objective measures then you’ll have to hike over to IMHO.
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### Author:  [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2008, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027/6 "2008-02-25T03:20:47Z")
The actual definition, huh?
American Heritage says: Intoxicated with alcoholic liquor to the point of impairment of physical and mental faculties.
Merriam Webster says: having the faculties impaired by alcohol
A definition is whatever the editor of a dictionary says it is. Folks act as if that carries some sort of authoritative weight, but it don’t.
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### Author:  [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027/7 "2008-02-26T19:44:08Z")
What the flying fuck has it got to do with you,you nosy cunt?
Joined the policeforce have we and" pursuing our enquiries" or are you being a funny man eh?
Come on come out with it are you trying to say I’m drunk?
I can drink you under the table anyday matey and then I’m going to punch your fucking head in AND all of your mates.
Nah,Nah I didn’t mean it I love you guys,not in a queer way you understand,I fucking hate queers,your my best friends,the best friends any man could have .
Your my only friends,my only real friends!
I had a pet puppy when I was a kid called Rex Idont half miss him ,he ran away,Rex,Rex where are you Rex?Come home little buddy I love you so much.
And that was as best a job I could do using a keyboard to replicate the speech of the Archbishop of Canterbury the last time I saw him in Westminster Abbey.
Later on I’m going to have a crack at reproducing a drunks conversation.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027/8 "2008-02-26T20:06:48Z")
“You’re not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on”
- Dean Martin.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027/9 "2008-02-26T20:43:53Z")
[QUOTE=Santo Rugger]
Not sure what you’re asking, either, but DUI is cut of in most US states at .08 BAC. One drink of 5oz wine, 12oz beer, or 1.5oz hard alcohol is generally accepted to raise your BAC .02, while your body can process and expel one drink an hour (depending on your body weight). There’s a handy chart here that shows BAC and its effects:
> **[Blood alcohol content](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_alcohol_content)**
>
> Blood alcohol content (BAC), also known as blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is the concentration of alcohol in a person's blood, measured for legal or medical purposes.
> BAC is expressed as the mass of alcohol per unit volume of blood. In the United States and many other countries, it is commonly reported as a percentage, such as 0.08% (equivalent to 0.08 g/L). Legal limits for driving vary by country, ranging from zero tolerance policies to 0.08%. Levels above 0.40% (4 g/L) ...
[/QUOTE]
The rate of absorption is commonly stated as .0125% per hour. So a little less than one drink per hour. That comes into play when the drunk bastard we have hooked to the wall either refuses to get someone to pick him up or can’t get anyone. We can’t let him leave while he is drunk so out come the calculators.
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### Author:  [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027/10 "2008-02-27T03:57:08Z")
It’s sort of like porn; I know it when I feel it. Like Saturday night. Followed by a day of regret on Sunday. To be fair to myself, I didn’t know how far gone I was until I started moving around, and of course then it was too late to do anything but hope I wouldn’t have a really shitty day the next day. No such luck.
I’ve heard plenty of stories of people being way drunker than I was, but I don’t even want to think about how they must have felt later.
An objective definition? I have nothing besides the state BAC levels. And for hardcore drinkers that number may not mean much. I am not a hardcore drinker.
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### Author:  [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027/11 "2008-02-27T05:31:05Z")
[QUOTE=Loach]
The rate of absorption is commonly stated as .0125% per hour. So a little less than one drink per hour. That comes into play when the drunk bastard we have hooked to the wall either refuses to get someone to pick him up or can’t get anyone. We can’t let him leave while he is drunk so out come the calculators.
[/QUOTE]
Hooked to the wall? 😕
.0125 is on the conservative side of estimates. Every alcohol class or section of class I’ve taken uses the estimate of .02 per hour (alcohol servers course, defensive driving course, motorcycle safety course, work trainings, etc.) while I’ve seen rates as quick as one drink every 40 minutes. It really just depends on the person, although I can see why .0125 would be used in cases where releasing them may be a liability.
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### Author:  [@J\_Cubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_Cubed)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027/12 "2008-02-27T06:02:40Z")
Roll your head back like you’re working out a kink in your neck. If it feels good, you’re buzzed. If it feels sickening, you’re drunk. If you fall down, you’re cut off.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definition-of-being-drunk/439027/13 "2008-02-27T16:20:25Z")
[QUOTE=Santo Rugger]
Hooked to the wall? 😕
.0125 is on the conservative side of estimates. Every alcohol class or section of class I’ve taken uses the estimate of .02 per hour (alcohol servers course, defensive driving course, motorcycle safety course, work trainings, etc.) while I’ve seen rates as quick as one drink every 40 minutes. It really just depends on the person, although I can see why .0125 would be used in cases where releasing them may be a liability.
[/QUOTE]
Hooked to the wall, as in one end of a pair of handcuffs is permenantly attached to the wall, the other end is temporarily attached to the drunk who is sitting on a chair bolted to the floor.
The absorption rate was given to me at my breathalyzer certification class.