In this lesson, we will talk about drinking and getting drunk. Do you drink “like a fish”? Maybe you are “hammered” or just “buzzed”. Treat your hangover with a dose of English slang and expressions that are sure to get your cheer on! I will teach you common expressions like “take the edge off”, “drunk as a skunk”, “wasted”, “pass out”, “tipsy”, and more. You have probably heard many of these in movies, shows, and in everyday life if you live in an English-speaking country. Watch the lesson to learn how to talk about everything alcohol-related, and don’t forget to do the quiz afterwards at https://www.engvid.com/learn-real-english-get-drunk-with-james/ . Remember to drink responsibly. Bottoms up! TRANSCRIPT Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo. I need a drink to take the edge off. Hey, E, how you doing? Seems E is ready to start drinking and wants me to join him. Today’s lesson is on drinking. Not… I mean, I did a video on drinking before. Take a sip. This is what happens when people drink too much, past the social stage. Okay? So let’s go to the board and take a look. And before I get started, this video is for Elle Williams (Chicklet). She’ll know why when I get to “paralytic”, and the rest of you will learn a brand new word you’ll like a lot. Anyway, so E’s saying: “Cheers, mate”, so he wants to invite me to a drink. Before I get started on the lesson, I want to kind of do a public service announcement (PSA): “Drinking can be a social activity, but too much is irresponsible. Please drink responsibly.” Now I’ve done my PSA. Okay? So, I’m not advocating drinking too much, but this video is about drinking too much. Let’s just face it, what it is. I mean, we’re not going to be drinking Perrier, here. Okay? So, you like to drink, you like to party. In some countries I know it’s not legal, but if you’re coming to a lot of Western countries, you can drink and some people take that to the extreme. And I’m going to go and go through the stages, actually, of drinking and where we start off with. Now, if you have a drink, it probably won’t affect you. In fact, for the average person, male or female, one drink every two hours will not really affect your system; it will be in your system, but won’t affect you – how you think, cognitively how you think or you physically, your reflexes, depending on weight and everything else before people say: “But James, if it’s a small woman…” Just generally speaking, okay? Now, if you are going to go out drinking, I may suggest that you get a “designated driver”. In North America, that is a person who is not supposed to drink, so if five people are going out, one of those people will not drink; they will have Coke or water all night and drive the other ones home. Okay? So get one of those. Because if you get stopped by the police or any law enforcement agent, if you have… I believe it’s 0.06 or 0.08 – I can’t recall what it is… It doesn’t matter, but it’s about a certain blood level, you will be considered under the influence and you could be in trouble, serious trouble for drinking and driving. Okay? This also goes for marijuana, but in this case, drinking and driving, being under the influence is illegal in most Western countries. Okay? So, now that we’ve got the business out of the way, let’s partay, okay? So, the first stage of drinking, you can see my cup is up. I’m with E. We’re having a drink. “Cheers, mate”, smashing glasses – a great time. And I want to have a drink. I’m after work; I’ve had a very busy day, and I’m like: “Oh, man, I had a lot of reports to do. I just need a drink to take the edge off.” That means I want a drink, maybe two, but I’m not trying to get drunk. I’m stressed out; I want to relax. The edge – it’s when you’re… Here’s the edge: You’re here, and you’re about to fall off. You’re just there, you go: “I need to take off the edge. I want to relax, so I can take some steps back and relax.” Okay? So, hey, the first stage of drinking, you want to take the edge off – you need to relax from a stressful day. Now, “tipsy” is a little different. Once you get a little tipsy, we like to say you’re slightly drunk, a little bit. Maybe you’ve had three drinks, and now you’re kind of happy. You know? You just got that kind of walk on, like: “Hey, how ya doin’? I’m pretty good myself.” You’ve got rid of the stress, and now you’re happy-guy; like: “Yeah, I’m pretty good. How you doin’?” Next one is “buzzed”. You know “bee”? “Buzzzz”. When you’re buzzed, man, you’re just kind of: “Yeah, I’m feeling good now.” You’ve gone past the one, two social to: “I’m just going to let my brain go off for a little while”, but you’re not falling down drunk. You’re either… You’re more… A little bit more than happy, you’re kind of a little bit out of it, but not too much. Once again, at any of these stages you shouldn’t be driving. Have a designated driver because you’re now under the influence of alcohol, and that’s what that means […]