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Drink like a fish

English translation: be a heavy drinker

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18:19 Jan 15, 2011

English to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

English term or phrase: Drink like a fish

For my own academic purposes, I would like to know if there are in English any other expressions equivalent to drink like a fish, especially associated with a particular nationality, if any.
Thank you in advance.
And I'm sorry, but there's no context.

Maria Lila KudoZ activity Questions: 27 (none open) (5 closed without grading) Answers: 227 Spain
Local time: 03:11

English translation:be a heavy drinker

Explanation:
Instead of saying "he drinks like a fish," you could say "he is a heavy drinker."

For an interesting assortment of expressions from other languages, see:
http://verbmall.blogspot.com/2010/03/drink-like-fish.html

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Note added at 41 mins (2011-01-15 19:00:15 GMT)
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Here's an exhaustive collection of alcohol-related idioms:
http://Freaky_Freya.tripod.com/Drunktionary/drunkcentral.htm...

Most describe a state of drunkenness, but there are a few that describe drinking ability or habits. Bottoms up!

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Note added at 1 hr (2011-01-15 19:40:30 GMT)
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We also sometimes say "drink like a sailor." See:

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/friends-family-alcoholic...
"Think you can drink like a sailor? Maybe you should take a moment to reflect on what that truly means."

Selected response from:

xxxskellyfish
Local time: 21:11

Grading comment

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +3

be a heavy drinker

xxxskellyfish

5 +2

he has a hollow leg

airmailrpl

Drink heavily, especially of alcoholic drink.

Komeil Zamani Babgohari

he has drunk.... see below

juvera

be a real soak

Sheila Wilson

he could drink me under the table

trsk2000

he/she likes his/her drink

trsk2000

to drink like a navvy

Rachel Fell

to lift/bend the elbow

Federica Masante

drink like there's no tomorrow

Amel Abdullah

3 +1

she/he needs her/his drink to survive/live

Thayenga

is on a liquid diet

Lisa Miles

Answers

3 mins confidence:

drink like a fish Drink heavily, especially of alcoholic drink.

Explanation:
.

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Note added at 4 mins (2011-01-15 18:23:45 GMT)
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Drink like a fish
Meaning

Drink heavily, especially of alcoholic drink.
Origin

Clearly an allusion to fishes' close association with water and their continuous open-mouthed taking in of water to obtain oxygen. The phrase is known since 1640 and appears in Fletcher and Shirley's The night-walker, or the little theife, from that date:

"Give me the bottle, I can drink like a Fish now, like an Elephant."

'Drink like an elephant' didn't catch on. There is a more recent potential boost to use 'drink like a fish' - at least for Californian Valley girls. In January 2005 a press release for the Dalian Fisherman's Song Maritime Biological Brewery in China, said that they had developed a fermentation process to make fish into wine. So now, you can 'drink, like, a fish'.

Komeil Zamani Babgohari
Iran
Local time: 05:41
Does not meet criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Farsi (Persian),

Persian (Farsi)

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you!

7 mins confidence:

drink like a fish he/she likes his/her drink

Explanation:
implies they drink a lot, another one is 'drinks like there's no tomorrow', but this applies to anyone who does something excessively and irresponsibly

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Note added at 9 mins (2011-01-15 18:28:55 GMT)
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i.e. someone who is over indulging themselves at Christmas, people might say, 'he/she's eating like there's no tomorrow'

trsk2000
Local time: 02:11
Does not meet criteria
Native speaker of:

English

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you!

10 mins confidence:

drink like a fish he could drink me under the table

Explanation:
another one we say locally here

trsk2000
Local time: 02:11
Does not meet criteria
Native speaker of:

English

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you!

11 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

drink like a fish she/he needs her/his drink to survive/live

Explanation:
like a fish needs water to live, said person needs (I assume) alcohol to live.

Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 03:11
Does not meet criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

German

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you!

35 mins confidence:

drink like a fish drink like there's no tomorrow

Explanation:
...with no thought to the consequences

Amel Abdullah
Meets criteria
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you!

1 hr confidence:

drink like a fish be a real soak

Explanation:
He's a real soak.

Obviously, the person soaks up alcohol like a sponge.

http://books.google.fr/books?id=CAqYY92xGykC&pg=PA514&lpg=PA...

http://www.tripme.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=2793&page=3

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Note added at 1 hr (2011-01-15 19:24:41 GMT)
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Here's what the Free dictionary has to say:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/soak

Another is:

"he likes a drop"

I might be completely wrong but I associate this more with the Irish, although it's not uncommon in British English.

Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 02:11
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 16

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you, Sheila! "To drink like a sponge" is one of the most popular expressions for heavy drinking in many languages. One thing for sure, there are so many variants regarding heavy drinking. All the best.

3 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

drink like a fish

be a heavy drinker

xxxskellyfish
Local time: 21:11
Does not meet criteria
Native speaker of:

English

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you for the links, it's what I was looking for. And yeap, there are many expressions.

2 hrs confidence:

drink like a fish is on a liquid diet

Explanation:
has a liquid diet.

just another suggestions to the many good ones already offered!

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Note added at 2 hrs (2011-01-15 20:33:07 GMT)
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Drinking large amounts of alcohol on an empty stomach.
J: "Dude, I've had 6 beers and I didn't eat dinner tonight."
A: "You're on a liquid diet bro."

(Urban dictionary)

Lisa Miles
Local time: 20:11
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: English

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you!

3 hrs confidence:

drink like a fish to lift/bend the elbow

Explanation:
Another colourful expression

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Note added at 3 hrs (2011-01-15 21:48:41 GMT)
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http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/bend elbow

Federica Masante
Local time: 03:11
Meets criteria
Native speaker of:

English,

Italian

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you! And yes, really colorful! I didn't imagine they were so many.

5 hrs confidence:

drink like a fish he has drunk.... see below

Explanation:
Just a few more. Alas - no reference to other nations.

drinks the cross off an ass
he has drunk more than he has bled
gets canned up to the crow's nest
boozing up the lone's jib
drinks until his teeth catch cold
drinks like a beast
drinks like a camel
drinks like a fire engine
drowns himself in the bottle
drinks himself dead
swills like a tinker
a slave to drink
bending his elbow too much
bowing to the bottle
gone to Mexico
he is grogging on
he has gutter mouth
intemperate as Silenius
knows how the cards are dealt
he is on chemical parity with reality
he is on the coctail route
he is on the grog
painting his nose
pickled himself
pissy-arsed
rushing/working the growler (growler - pitcher)
permanently under the weather
keeps taking on fuel
he has thrown away the cork
he is under the wagon
well preserved, well pickled

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Note added at 18 hrs (2011-01-16 12:47:58 GMT)
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I revel in the richness of the language, and I enjoyed putting this list together.
The question was: “I would like to know if there are any other expressions equivalent to drink like a fish…” - that is to say someone drinks a lot.

Now I realise I should have written: there are plenty of them, but I could only offer you these if the question is moved to the forum. Otherwise, with a bit of luck and given time, more people will participate to give you more answers here.

I’ll explain how all these expressions came to be aired. Take it that I have several split personalities, and I let them loose accidentally. Would you want to chastise all thirty or so of them, poor diddums? :-)

juvera
Local time: 02:11
Does not meet criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Hungarian

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you! Apparently most languages compare heavy drinking to animals, professions, etc.

18 hrs confidence:

to drink like a fish to drink like a navvy

Explanation:

Don't bother bringing any for Weirdie.....she is a lightweight. I bet Margaret can drink like a navvy though! (snigger)
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=463188&page=...

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Note added at 19 hrs (2011-01-16 13:19:40 GMT)
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Are you a weirdo???, tell us about it!!! « The New Adventures of ...
12 posts - 5 authors - Last post: 5 Jul 2007
My grandma used to always say that I dress like a navvy, drink like a navvy and eat like a navvy. I think people who get excited over mundane things like toiletries like bubble bath and deodorant are weird. I just can't understand the whole "OMG let's go in Body Shop!!" as though it's something fun. I don't get it, it's just stuff to wash yourself with.
www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/are-you-a-weirdo-tell-us.../...

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Note added at 19 hrs (2011-01-16 13:30:23 GMT)
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actually, I'm not sure that there are that many alternative ways of saying it, i.e. to drink a lot habitually; there are many dozens of ways of saying to have drunk a lot, but that isn't the same thing.

Rachel Fell
Local time: 02:11
Meets criteria
Native speaker of:

English

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you!

9 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

drink like a fish he has a hollow leg

Explanation:
drinks like a fish => he has a hollow leg

to have a hollow leg - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus ...
to have a hollow leg. Fig. to have a great capacity or need for food or drink. Bobby can drink more beer than I can afford. I think he has a hollow leg! ...
www.idioms.thefreedictionary.com/to have a hollow leg -

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Note added at 20 hrs (2011-01-16 14:54:24 GMT)
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"has a hollow leg"
About 28,100 results

Urban Dictionary: hollow leg
"My best friend has a hollow leg. She can drink 3 40 oz. bottles of Colt ... Look at Ralf pack the food away. I think he has a hollow leg. .
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hollow leg

Idioms
have a hollow leg. - to be able to eat or drink a lot. I think that my friend has a hollow leg. He never stops eating. ...
www.idiomconnection.com/legfoot.html

To have hollow legs - it.narkive.com
15 Oct 2005 ... "He has a hollow leg", meaning he has a high tolerance for alcohol, is common in the US. I think "Hollow legs" means the same thing for ...
www.it.narkive.com/2005/10/15/3530614-to-have-hollow-legs.h...

Review for USMLE: United States medical licensing examination, ... - Google Books Result
Kenneth Ibsen, Nandan Bhatt - 2006 - Medical - 634 pages
However, he also states he has a "hollow leg" and the alcohol doesn't affect his functioning in any way. Physical examination reveals a distended abdomen ...
www.books.google.com/books?isbn=0781765226...

To have hollow legs
Il 15 Ott 2005, 19:38, "joscurtin" ha scritto: > > "He has a hollow leg", meaning he has a high tolerance for alcohol, > is common in the US ...
www.it-cultura.confusenet.com/showthread.php?t=218962 -

airmailrpl
Brazil
Local time: 22:11
Meets criteria
Native speaker of:

English,

Portuguese
PRO pts in category: 11

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

neutral

Sheila Wilson: I'm really not sure about this one. I've never heard it before and neeither has the Free dictionary, apparently // Your link didn't show it but Amel's does. I suspect it's AE usage that I've never come across. So many other choices available to Brits!

52 mins

-> this was in my original post: www.idioms.thefreedictionary.com/to have a hollow leg -

neutral

Amel Abdullah: I, too, have not heard the phrase (and thus can't vouch for it), but it is indeed listed at the Free Dictionary: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/to have a hollow leg

1 hr

-> "has a hollow leg" ..About 28,100 results ...Is that enough for yu

agree

Demi Ebrite: I have heard this ' hollow leg' idiom in AE, but I don't know the origin.

1 hr

-> thank you

neutral

Cilian O'Tuama: am not familiar with it, but like it. might even agree if confidence were modest.

10 hrs

-> if confidence were modest. ???

agree

British Diana: I've heard of it!

15 hrs

-> thank you

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Drink like a fish

English translation: be a heavy drinker

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English translation: be a heavy drinker

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