"I Take the Twenty-First"

If people ask you to say things you don't want to say, you can colloquially respond, "I take the Fifth" (referring to the Fifth Amendment's privilege against self-incrimination). So if people tell you not to take that next drink, you should say, "I take the Twenty-First."

(To be sure, sometimes you really shouldn't take that next drink. But then again, sometimes you shouldn't be taking the Fifth, either.)

Comments

[Hank Ferrous]

Prof. V, I think that will go well over most folks’ heads, but might demonstrate to some a level of sobriety permitting one more drink. Yamazaki 18 for me, neat.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

And the following drink, of course would be the Twenty-Second.

But the Standing is questionable.

[MatthewSlyfield]

The chair says let’s table the question on standing.

[DaivdBehar]

Alcohol is the most toxic mind altering substance. Half the suicides are drunk. Half the murderers, the murder victims are drunk. A much larger fraction of people who fight or engage in abuse of their families are likely to be drunk. After syphilis was treated with antibiotics, alcohol effects on the brain became the number one cause of hospitalization in a state hospital.

Prohibition dropped consumption by only 50%. It has a bad reputation. Yet, it had very beneficial effects on public health and on the economy. It lowered alcohol caused crime by 25%. The notoriety of its generating crime syndicates reflected the failure of lawyer enforcement of the law, and probably their being bribed.