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A strong, built man, 220 lbs, who has been abusing alcohol for 20 years, would need how many glasses of whiskey to get drunk?
Let's make it Jameson whiskey, and keep in mind, he has been drinking daily.
He doesn't get drunk every day, but several times a week, when he wants to numb his mind and forget what bothers him, he drinks until his mind clouds over and he feels at peace about himself.
I need this little detail for a book I am writing, and as I am a 120 lb female, I can't really go out and experiment with this myself and except the same result of a character twice my weight and gender.

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@loveislikearose3,

I wouldn't mind doing the experiment as long as you will fund it.

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@loveislikearose3,

loveislikearose3 wrote:

A strong, built man, 220 lbs, who has been abusing alcohol for 20 years, would need how many glasses of whiskey to get drunk?

That depends on a large number of factors. For some chronic alcoholics, it might take a 750 ml bottle (a fifth) to get pleasantly inebriated, others might pass out after a few shots. It's not an exact science, but then since this is for a novel and not some nefarious plan you're concocting, you don't need to be precise as long as you explain it sufficiently to the reader.

loveislikearose3 wrote:

I need this little detail for a book I am writing, and as I am a 120 lb female, I can't really go out and experiment with this myself and except the same result of a character twice my weight and gender.

He's twice your gender?

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@joefromchicago,

Hahah!
I meant not my weight or gender, but was also thinking twice my weight and put the two together somehow!
Hahahah, thanks for pointing that out!

And thanks for the replies, though I'm interested in specifics, as in who here, who weighs around that much and drinks whiskey can tell me from experience, in cups not bottles.

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@loveislikearose3,

I see what you want, but you can't have it. Some alcoholics can consume unbelievable (uncounted) quantities without visible effects. At some point in their careers, a very small quantity will put them under the table.

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@loveislikearose3,

loveislikearose3 wrote:

And thanks for the replies, though I'm interested in specifics, as in who here, who weighs around that much and drinks whiskey can tell me from experience, in cups not bottles.

Well, first of all, you don't measure whiskey in "cups." Secondly, as a novelist, you can set whatever limit you want, as long as you adequately explain it to the reader. For instance:

"Oscar sat at the bar, looking hazily at the bottom of his glass of whiskey. Two empty glasses sat nearby, reminding him of how he arrived at this point in the evening. Although he was an experienced drinker, he never seemed able to get beyond the third glass. 'You're a lightweight!' his fraternity brothers would kid him, but as his mind drifted to thoughts of Ramona, he knew they were right."

As opposed to this:

"Was it his eighth or ninth. Oscar couldn't remember as he slammed the glass down on the bar and called to the bartender: 'Gimme another!' The bartender eyed him with a mixture of suspicion and pity. 'Don't you think you should call it a day, mister?' 'Listen here, sonny,' Oscar sneered, 'I was drinking a fifth of bourbon every day when you were still sucking at your mother's teat. Now gimme another!'"

1 Reply

@loveislikearose3,

He might take his whiskey in shots, not glasses or cups.

1 Reply

@joefromchicago,

joefromchicago wrote:

loveislikearose3 wrote:
And thanks for the replies, though I'm interested in specifics, as in who here, who weighs around that much and drinks whiskey can tell me from experience, in cups not bottles.

Well, first of all, you don't measure whiskey in "cups." Secondly, as a novelist, you can set whatever limit you want, as long as you adequately explain it to the reader. For instance:

"Oscar sat at the bar, looking hazily at the bottom of his glass of whiskey. Two empty glasses sat nearby, reminding him of how he arrived at this point in the evening. Although he was an experienced drinker, he never seemed able to get beyond the third glass. 'You're a lightweight!' his fraternity brothers would kid him, but as his mind drifted to thoughts of Ramona, he knew they were right."

As opposed to this:

"Was it his eighth or ninth. Oscar couldn't remember as he slammed the glass down on the bar and called to the bartender: 'Gimme another!' The bartender eyed him with a mixture of suspicion and pity. 'Don't you think you should call it a day, mister?' 'Listen here, sonny,' Oscar sneered, 'I was drinking a fifth of bourbon every day when you were still sucking at your mother's teat. Now gimme another!'"

Excellent!

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@Ticomaya,

Ticomaya wrote:

He might take his whiskey in shots, not glasses or cups.

Unless he's a cowboy, in which case he measures whiskey in "fingers."

1 Reply

@joefromchicago,

If you're shootin' back women, and fingering your liquor, it's time to cut back a little.

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@loveislikearose3,

I agree with others, amounts can be astronomical for a hefty male who is used to boozing steadily. Astronomical, but the effects will still be observable - I think - in some way. But people vary in the ways.

A hefty male, say a fraternity boy who has an eye toward 'tying one on', not quiet steady consumption, can get himself into dangerous intoxication with some speed if he tries hard enough.

On cups and bottles, bottles is the word of choice in this area of the US, though bottles may vary in size from airplane size to 1.5 liters. I never hear 'cups' used, except the phrase, he is in his cups and even that sounds archaic to me, sounding like some old novel phrasing. Are you in the British Isles? The words may all be different there.

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I'm not a big fan of the cable series The Wire, but I was always impressed by the truly heroic amount of drinking done by the police characters -- made all the more heroic because they never seemed to suffer any after-effects. That, to me, is unrealistic. If I drank that much, I'd die. But then, as explained above, different amounts of alcohol affect different people differently. In Days of Wine and Roses, Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick seem to go through a couple of fifths of hard liquor every night, but then they also become a pair of sloppy drunks as a result of that prodigious consumption of alcohol. On the other hand, movies from the 1940s (with the exception of The Lost Weekend) tend to have characters drink without any consequences at all. In the Thin Man movies, for instance, William Powell is constantly drinking, but he only gets, at most, mildly tipsy. Likewise, if one were to make a drinking game out of watching Casablanca -- taking a shot whenever someone in the movie drinks -- I'm not sure if anyone would make it to the end of the film.

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@joefromchicago,

I'm remembering a guy I used to work with, may he rest in peace, he deserves to, and I mean that nicely - who weighed over 400 pounds. I was the one who hired him, and our families became friends. He had been very glad to get the job, and withstood a lot of taunts from a certain bitchy woman down the hall in another lab. He wasn't a big drinker, but if he and when he did, it never fazed him at all.

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@joefromchicago,

Ah, Lee Remick. Thanks for the memory.

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Quote:

Alcohol is a good drink that protects the people from depression, anxiety.

However its aftereffect for some of us is depression and anxiety

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

dalehileman wrote:

Quote:
Alcohol is a good drink that protects the people from depression, anxiety.
However its aftereffect for some of us is depression and anxiety

Well - alcohol is a depressant!

2 Replies

@margo,

You know "It perks you up while it calms you down".

Actually, I think that was the tag line for some coffee roaster.

0 Replies

@margo,

margo wrote:

dalehileman wrote:
However its aftereffect for some of us is depression and anxiety

Well - alcohol is a depressant!

I think some of y'all are doing it wrong.

1 Reply

@Ticomaya,

Quote:

I think some of y'all are doing it wrong.

There are only two ways to do it.

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Whiskey yer the devil!

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To all you whiskey drinkers out there...

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