Imbibe

[Dr. Goodword]

• imbibe •

Pronunciation: im-baib • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Verb

Meaning: 1. Drink, especially alcoholic beverages. 2. Absorb, assimilate, drink in, as seeds imbibe water or students imbibe knowledge.

Notes: If you wish to treat drinking lightly, use this verb in light-hearted situations. It comes with a noun, imbibition (which has an adjective, imbibitional) and an adjective of its own, imbibitive, as 'imbibitive habits'.

In Play: The literal sense of this word is the same as that of drink, but used jovially: "On all our cruises food is eaten, alcohol imbibed, shops toured, and art appreciated." You may also use today's word in the figurative sense of drink: "In order to speak a second language fluently, you must visit the country in which it is spoken and imbibe the culture."

Word History: Today's Good Word was taken from French (when it wasn't looking) imbiber "to soak, (slang) get sloshed". French inherited it directly from Latin imbibere "absorb, drink in, imbibe", an assimilated form of in- "in(to)" + bibere "to drink". Bibere can be traced back to PIE poi-/pei/pi- "drink" via these processes: the zero-grade form was first duplicated, pi-pê-o the second P was voiced for some reason, pi-bo (whence Russian pivo "beer"), the first P assimilated to B of the second syllable, giving bi-bo, and the French verbal endings added to this form. Russian pit' "to drink" (Poi! "Drink!") derives from the O-variant, poi, as does Modern French boire "to drink". Portuguese and Spanish beber "drink" and English beer come from the reduplicated form. (Today's is another extremely Good Word from long-time, much appreciated contributor Jackie Strauss of Philadelphia.)

[damoge]

And then there is the "Michelin man", mascot of Michelin tires, the chubby smiling pile of walking tubes. He was known as Bibendum, or more familiarly as Bibi.
Spring forward a bit and some saw a general resemblance between Bibi and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Since Bibi (mascot) is named for the phrase Nunc est Bibendum, it would seem to me that we have come full circle. Netanyahu is one of a flock of men in high positions of power that might well make one want to retreat to a quiet corner with a stiff drink.
I would suggest, however, a more active reaction... Get politically active, be out and about, speak up, work for change.

[Slava]

Now that's wacky, an automotive mascot whose name is "Now is the time to drink." I thought when you were on your tires (tyres) now was particularly NOT the time to drink.

[damoge]

Slava, I most heartily agree.
I had never heard the phrase "on your tyres (tires)..." before. I assume it means "while driving..."
Is it something in general use, or a particular turn of phrase created by you just for this post?

[Slava]

I honestly can't say. I expect I was going for some kind of a play on the tires being on the car, but it doesn't really work, does it? I hope I had something in mind.

[damoge]

Braggart!
I don't dare even claim to have a mind.

Sigh.

[Philip Hudson]

In the Bible, Nazareites were people who, among other aspects of restraint, did not imbibe strong drink. I have and have had close family members who drink to excess. I have never imbibed any alcohol except for that in the communion cup when I visit a church that serves it. My church uses grape juice.