''In vino veritas'', also written as ''in uino ueritas'', is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

phrase that means "In wine, there is truth", 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''", i.e., "In wine there is truth, in

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

there is good sense (or good health)." Similar phrases exist across cultures and languages. The expression, together with its counterpart in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, "Ἐν οἴνῳ ἀλήθεια" (''En oinō alētheia''), is found in

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

' ''Adagia'', I.vii.17.

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

's ''Naturalis historia'' contains an early allusion to the phrase. The Greek expression is quoted by

Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...

of Naucratis in his

Deipnosophistae The ''Deipnosophistae'' is an early 3rd-century AD Greek work ( grc, Δειπνοσοφισταί, ''Deipnosophistaí'', lit. "The Dinner Sophists/Philosophers/Experts") by the Greek author Athenaeus of Naucratis. It is a long work of liter ...

; it is now traced back to a poem by Alcaeus.

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

asserts that if the

Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...

decided something while

drunk Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ...

, 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). The Roman historian

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

described how the

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

kept counsel at feasts, where they believed that drunkenness prevented the participants from

dissembling A lie is an assertion that is believed to be false, typically used with the purpose of deception, deceiving or Deception, misleading someone. The practice of communicating lies is called lying. A person who communicates a lie may be termed a l ...

Western Europe

Western European Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

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

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

, "''Fra børn og fulde folk skal man høre sandheden''" ("From children and drunk people, you will hear the truth"). * In

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, similarly, "''Kinderen en dronkaards spreken de waarheid''" ("Children and drunk people speak the truth"), "''De wijn in het lijf, het hart in de mond''" ("Wine in the body, heart in the mouth"), and "''Een dronken mond spreekt 's harten grond''" ("A drunken mouth speaks from the bottom of the heart"). * In

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, "What soberness conceals, drunkenness reveals" and "He speaks in his drink what he thought in his drouth", and "A drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts". * In

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

, "''Kännisen suusta totuus tulee''" ("The truth comes from the mouth of a drunkard"). * In French, "''Ce que le sobre tient au cœur est sur la langue du buveur''" ("What the sober hold in their heart is on the drinker's tongue"). * In

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, "''Trunkner Mund verrät des Herzens Grund''" ("A drunken mouth reveals the heart's meaning") and "''Trunkener Mund tut Wahrheit kund''" ("A drunken mouth proclaims the truth"). * In Icelandic, "''Öl er innri maður''" (Ale reveals the inner man). * In

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, "''Despues de beber cada uno dice su parecer''" ("After drinking everyone speaks their opinion"), "''Cuando el vino entra, echa el secreto afuera''" ("When the wine enters, it throws the secret out"), and "''Los niños y los borrachos dicen la verdad''" ("Children and drunk people speak the truth").

Central Europe

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: ''W winie prawda.'' *

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

: ''Ve víně je pravda.'' * Hungarian: ''Borban az igazság'' *

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

: ''în vin este adevărul.'' * Serbian: ''Пијан говори што трезан мисли.'' * Slovak: ''Vo víne je pravda.'' * Slovene: ''V vinu je resnica.'' *

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, «Что у трезвого на уме, то у пьяного на языке» ("What a sober man has in his mind, the drunk one has on his tongue") and «Истина в вине».

Asia

Persian

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, مستی و راستی ("drunkenness and truthfulness").

Chinese

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

, ("After wine blurts truthful speech").

Filipino

In Tagalog, ''Nasa Inuman ang Katotohanan'' ("Truth is in Drinking").

Japanese

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, 酒は本心を表す (''Sake wa honshin o arawasu'', "Alcohol reveals true feelings").

Talmud

The

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

ian

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

(תלמוד בבלי) contains the passage: "נכנס יין יצא סוד", i.e., "Wine enters, secret goes out." It continues, "בשלשה דברים אדם ניכר בכוסו ובכיסו ובכעסו", i.e., "In three things is a man revealed: in his wine

goblet A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning. R ...

, in his purse, and in his

wrath Anger, also known as wrath or rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat. A person experiencing anger will often experience physical effects, su ...

." (In the original

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, the words for "his goblet" (''koso)'', "his purse" (''keeso - ''lit. his pocket), and "his wrath" (''ka'aso'') rhyme, and there is a further

play on words Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phonet ...

, as they all use the root "כס".) In

Gematria Gematria (; he, גמטריא or gimatria , plural or , ''gimatriot'') is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word or phrase according to an alphanumerical cipher. A single word can yield several values depending on the cipher ...

, the value of the word "sod" (secret) is equal to the value of the word "yain" (wine), making it another

, of something of value enters, and something of equal value exits. There is a similar saying in

yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

: "וואס בײַ א ניכטערן אויף די לינג, איז בײַ א שיכור'ן אויף די צינג", literal meaning: what a sober one has on its lung a drunken has on its tongue.

Africa

In Chichewa, ''Phika mowa unve chinapha amako'' ("Brew beer and you will hear what killed your mother"). In Chibemba, ''Ubwalwa nisokolola twebo'' ("Beer makes one reveal secrets") In Tetela, ''Olamba háté kashi'' (Alcohol does not lie)p. 71, Ndjeka Elizabeth Mukanga, Epenge Albert Tshefu, Ambaye Albertinre Tshefu. 2020. ''Great Collection of Tetela Proverbs on the African Wisdom''. Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishing. In Ewe , '' Gnatepe le kopo'a me '' (Truth lies in the cup)

Music

In the 1770s,

Benjamin Cooke Benjamin Cooke (1734 – 14 September 1793) was an English composer, organist and teacher. Cooke was born in London and named after his father, also Benjamin Cooke (1695/1705 – 1743), a music publisher based in Covent Garden (active from 1 ...

wrote a

glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

by the title of ''In Vino Veritas.'' His lyrics (with modern punctuation):

References

External links

* {{portal bar, Drink Latin proverbs Latin words and phrases Wine