In vino veritas explained

Latin: In vino veritas is a Latin phrase that means, suggesting a person under the influence of alcohol is more likely to speak their hidden thoughts and desires. The phrase is sometimes continued as, Latin: in vīnō vēritās, in aquā sānitās, . Similar phrases exist across cultures and languages.

The expression, together with its counterpart in, grc|Ἐν οἴνῳ ἀλήθεια|En oinō alētheia, is found in Erasmus' Adagia, I.vii.17.^[1] Pliny the Elder's Latin: Naturalis historia contains an early allusion to the phrase.^[2] The Greek expression is quoted by Athenaeus of Naucratis in his Deipnosophistae;^[3] it is now traced back to a poem by Alcaeus.^[4]

Herodotus asserts that if the Persians decided something while drunk, they made a rule to reconsider it when sober. Authors after Herodotus have added that if the Persians made a decision while sober, they made a rule to reconsider it when they were drunk (Histories, book 1, section 133).^[5] The Roman historian Tacitus described how the Germanic peoples kept counsel at feasts, where they believed that drunkenness prevented the participants from dissembling.^[6]

Western Europe

In Western European countries the same idea has been incorporated in local language versions.

• Danish: Danish: Fra børn og fulde folk skal man høre sandheden, .
• Dutch, similarly: Dutch; Flemish: Kinderen en dronkaards spreken de waarheid, ; Dutch; Flemish: De wijn in het lijf, het hart in de mond, ; and Dutch; Flemish: Een dronken mond spreekt 's harten grond, .
• English: ; ; and .
• Finnish: Finnish: Kännisen suusta totuus tulee .
• French: French: ce que le sobre tient au cœur est sur la langue du buveur, .
• German: German: Trunkner Mund verrät des Herzens Grund, ; and German: Trunkener Mund tut Wahrheit kund, .
• Icelandic: Icelandic: Öl er innri maður, .
• Spanish: Spanish; Castilian: despues de beber cada uno dice su parecer, ; Spanish; Castilian: cuando el vino entra, echa el secreto afuera, ; and Spanish; Castilian: los niños y los borrachos dicen la verdad, .

Central Europe

• Czech

.

• Hungarian

.

• Latvian

.

• Lithuanian

.

• Polish

.

• Romanian

.

• Russian

Russian: Что у трезвого на уме, то у пьяного на языке, ; and Russian: Истина в вине.

• Serbian

Serbian: Пијан говори што трезан мисли.

• Slovak

.

• Slovene

.

Asia

• Chinese:, .
• Japanese: ja|酒は本心を表す|Sake wa honshin o arawasu|alcohol reveals true feelings|label=none.
• Persian: Persian: مستی و راستی, .
• Tagalog: Tagalog: Nasa Inuman ang Katotohanan, .

Talmud

The Babylonian Talmud (Hebrew: תלמוד בבלי) contains the passage, "Hebrew: נכנס יין יצא סוד", .^[7] It continues, "Hebrew: בשלשה דברים אדם ניכר בכוסו ובכיסו ובכעסו", .^[8] (In the original Hebrew, the words for,, and rhyme, and there is a further play on words, as they all use the similar set of consonants 'Hebrew: כ(ע)ס'.)

In Hebrew Gematria, the value of the word,, is equal to the value of the word,, making it another play on words: something of value enters, and something of equal value exits.

There is a similar saying in Yiddish: Yiddish: וואס בײַ א ניכטערן אויף די לינג, איז בײַ א שיכור'ן אויף די צינג, .

Africa

• Chibemba:, .
• Chichewa:, .
• Ewe:, .
• Tetela:, .^[9]

Music

In the 1770s, Benjamin Cooke wrote a glee by the title of "In Vino Veritas". His lyrics (with modern punctuation):^[10]

See also

• List of Latin phrases
• Never have I ever
• Truth serum

Notes and References

1. See W. Barker, The Adages of Erasmus (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001), pp. 100-103. Ἐν οἴνῳ ἀλήθεια: Diogenianus, Cent. 4.81. See Andreas Schottus, Paroimiai hellēnikai (Antwerp: Plantin, 1612), p. 215.
2. Nat. hist. 14, 141: "Latin: ... volgoque veritas iam attributa vino est."
3. Athen. 37E: "Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: οἶνος καὶ ἀλήθεια"
4. Alc. fr. 366 Voigt: grc|οἶνος, ὦ φίλε παῖ, καὶ ἀλάθεα|oinos, ō phile pai, kai alāthea|Wine, dear boy, and truth.... Nothing is known about the poem except for these words, which are quoted by a later scholiast. See G. Tsomis, German: Zusammenschau der Frühgriechischen Monodischen Melik: Alkaios, Sappho, Anakreon (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1999), pp. 160-161.
5. Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, Vol. 2, Food Production to Nuts, Solomon H. Katz (Editor in Chief), 2003, Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 198. (v. 2).
6. Tacitus, Germania, 22.
7. See Tractate Eruvin 65a (Hebrew: מסכת עירובין, פרק ו, דף סה,א גמרא).
8. Id. at 65b (Hebrew: דף סה,ב גמרא).
9. p. 71, Ndjeka Elizabeth Mukanga, Epenge Albert Tshefu, Ambaye Albertinre Tshefu. 2020. Great Collection of Tetela Proverbs on the African Wisdom. Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishing.
10. Warren, Thomas, ed. A collection of catches, canons & glees. Wilmington, Delaware: Mellifont Press, 1970. . Reprint of a collection, originally in thirty-two volumes, of glees published by various publishers in London, from 1762 to 1793. Thomas Warren (ca. 1730-1974) was the original editor of the collection. The reprint is not complete. For more information, see the University of Michigan library's holding http://mirlyn.lib.umich.edu/Record/002449370.