In vino veritas
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, in vīnō vēritās, in aquā sānitās,. Similar phrases exist across cultures and languages.
The expression, together with its counterpart in,, is found in Erasmus' Adagia, I.vii.17. Pliny the Elder's Naturalis historia contains an early allusion to the phrase. The Greek expression is quoted by Athenaeus of Naucratis in his Deipnosophistae; it is now traced back to a poem by Alcaeus.
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. The Roman historian Tacitus described how the Germanic peoples kept counsel at feasts, where they believed that drunkenness prevented the participants from dissembling.
Western Europe
In Western European countries the same idea has been incorporated in local language versions.- Danish: Fra børn og fulde folk skal man høre sandheden,.
- Dutch, similarly: Kinderen en dronkaards spreken de waarheid, ; De wijn in het lijf, het hart in de mond, ; and Een dronken mond spreekt 's harten grond,.
- English: ; ; and.
- Finnish: Kännisen suusta totuus tulee.
- French: ce que le sobre tient au cœur est sur la langue du buveur,.
- German: Trunkner Mund verrät des Herzens Grund, ; and Trunkener Mund tut Wahrheit kund,.
- Icelandic: Öl er innri maður,.
- Spanish: despues de beber cada uno dice su parecer, ; cuando el vino entra, echa el secreto afuera, ; and los niños y los borrachos dicen la verdad,.
Central Europe
- Czech: Ve víně je pravda.
- Hungarian: Borban az igazság.
- Latvian: Vīnā ir taisnība.
- Lithuanian: Vyne tiesa.
- Polish: W winie prawda.
- Romanian: în vin este adevărul.
- Russian: Что у трезвого на уме, то у пьяного на языке, ; and Истина в вине.
- Serbian: Пијан говори што трезан мисли.
- Slovak: Vo víne je pravda.
- Slovene: V vinu je resnica.
Asia
Talmud
The Babylonian Talmud contains the passage, "נכנס יין יצא סוד",. It continues, "בשלשה דברים אדם ניכר בכוסו ובכיסו ובכעסו",.,, and rhyme, and there is a further play on words, as they all use the similar set of consonants 'כIn 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: וואס בײַ א ניכטערן אויף די לינג, איז בײַ א שיכור'ן אויף די צינג,.