Eat, drink and be merry

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Meaning

Enjoy food, drink, and present pleasures, sometimes because the future is uncertain. Can celebrate present enjoyment or criticize short-sighted self-indulgence; context decides. Regional use: Biblical English; now widespread.

Origin

The expression combines biblical passages rather than belonging to one uniquely worded English verse. Ecclesiastes commends eating and drinking with gladness, while Luke 12:19 has a rich man tell himself to eat, drink, and make merry. The Wycliffe Bible renders these ideas in Middle English, including a close eat, drink, and make feast form. Later translations and quotation compressed them into the familiar triad. Context can make it either cheerful or cautionary.

Research Sources

  1. Bible Gateway: Luke 12:19 in English translations Bible Gateway
  2. Dictionary.com: eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die Dictionary.com

Variants

  • Let us eat, drink and be merry

Usage Examples

  • The work is finished, so let us eat, drink and be merry.
  • Their attitude was to eat, drink and be merry, leaving no savings for repairs.
  • For one evening, the exhausted crew decided to eat, drink and be merry.

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