# drink like a fish



## Encolpius

What do you say in your mother tongue??
Please, translate the uncommon words. 
Thanks a lot. 

Hungarian

Iszik, mint a gödény. (...like a pelican)
Iszik, mint a kefekötő. (...like a brush-maker)


----------



## jazyk

In Portuguese:
More correctly: Bebe como/igual a um gambá (He drinks like an opossum).
But you may also hear: Bebe igual/que nem um gambá.


----------



## Frank06

Hi,

In *Dutch* we have:
Drinken (_of_ zuipen) als een Tempelier.

(zuipen: to drink a lot
Tempelier: Knight Templar)

*Dialect*:
zuipen as 'nen èchel

(èchel: leech)

Groetjes,

Frank


----------



## kusurija

In Czech:
Pije jako duha. (...as rainbow)


----------



## Grop

French: _Il boit comme un trou_. -> like a hole.

Less common: _comme un gendarme_, _comme un colonel_, _comme un général_ .

Edit: That would actually be _saoul comme un général_, or _saoul comme un Polonais_. This is closer to _drunk as a lord_.


----------



## goffredo

Italian: Beve come una spugna! = like a sponge!


----------



## Nizo

In *Esperanto*,

_Li drinkas kiel funelo_ (He drinks like a funnel)

There are two basic words for "to drink" in Esperanto.  _Trinki_ is to drink in general, while _drinki_ is used for consuming large amounts of alcoholic beverages.  In this expression, Zamenhof (the originator of Esperanto) used the word _drinki_.  Since Zamenhof died in 1917, this expression dates to the early days of the language.


----------



## Dr. Quizá

I think the most common expression in Spain is "bebe como un cosaco" ("he drinks like a cossack") which I've always found somewhat enigmatic.


----------



## Hakro

*Finnish:*

Juo kuin sieni = He drinks like a sponge

This is maybe the most common saying today. In an encyclopedia of figurative language I found more than a dozen, mostly impossible to translate.


----------



## sokol

Austrian German:

Saufen wie eine Kuh. = Drink like a cow. (Unspecifically.)
Saufen wie ein Loch. = Drink like a hole. (Especially if you drink much alcohol.)

("Saufen" corresponds to Dutch "zuipen" and is as well the stronger word for "to drink", less strong would be "trinken" which however wouldn't be used in this context.)


----------



## rusita preciosa

Russian: *пить как сапожник* drink like a shoemaker


----------



## Favara

Catalan:
Beure com un cadirer (like a chair maker)
Beure com un dolçainer/xirimiter (like a _dolçaina_ player - _dolçaina_ is a traditional musical instrument)
Beure com un frare (like a monk)


----------



## apmoy70

In Greek:
(I've heard both)
πίνει σαν σφουγγάρι (p*i*ni san sfuŋg*a*ri), drinks like a sponge
and
πίνει σαν άλογο (p*i*ni san *a*loɣo), drinks like a horse


----------



## Giulia2213

Grop said:


> French: _Il boit comme un trou_. -> like a hole.
> 
> Less common: _comme un gendarme_, _comme un colonel_, _comme un général_ .
> 
> Edit: That would actually be _saoul comme un général_, or _saoul comme un Polonais_. This is closer to _drunk as a lord_.


Or, less offensive and quite funny : _Il pompe comme les Shadocks_


----------



## phosphore

Serbian:

Pije kao smuk. (literally: [h]e drinks like an aesculpian snake.)


----------



## merquiades

Dr. Quizá said:


> I think the most common expression in Spain is "bebe como un cosaco" ("he drinks like a cossack") which I've always found somewhat enigmatic.



Also
bebe como un esponja (a sponge)
coge una merluza (catch a hake)


----------



## bibax

Czech:

pije jako Dán (like a Dane)


----------



## ilocas2

Well, I don't want to argue, but this idiom does exist only on paper. It's something what everybody know, but it's really not used in normal life. Maybe it was used years ago but definitely not nowadays.

The only commonly used idiom is - *pije / chlastá jak/jako duha* - drinks like rainbow

You can find some other expressions via Google, but all of them are applicable to other life situations beside drinking, only duha is used exclusively to drinking.

I don't try to say that you wrote nonsense, only I want to clarify the real situation.


----------



## bibax

"pije jako duha" - 49,500 occurrences
"pije jako Dán" - 18,300 occurrences

on the Web.


----------



## Orlin

phosphore said:


> Serbian:
> 
> Pije kao smuk. (literally: [h]e drinks like an aesculpian snake.)


Bulgarian: пие като смок. (the same literal meaning)


----------



## anaczz

> goffredo Italian: Beve come una spugna! = like a sponge!
> Hakro Finnish: Juo kuin sieni = He drinks like a sponge
> merquiades Spain: bebe como un esponja (a sponge)
> apmoy  Greek: πίνει σαν σφουγγάρι (pini san sfuŋgari), drinks like a sponge
> sokol Austrian German: Saufen wie eine Kuh. = Drink like a cow. (Unspecifically.)


Portuguese (Br)

Bebe como/feito uma esponja. (He drinks like a sponge)
Bebe feito uma vaca. (He drink like a cow)

This one is very cool:


> In Czech:
> Pije jako duha. (...as rainbow)


----------



## mataripis

Tagalog: Tulad ng isda siya pag nainom.  * Pilipino: Parang isda kung uminom.


----------



## 810senior

Since we love all kind of bathing, in Japanese, we would say it like this: 酒を浴びるほど(くらいに)飲む meaning _to drink as if bathing in alcohol_.


----------



## Messquito

In Chinese:
牛飲
牛＝cow/ox...
飲＝drink


----------



## Medune

jazyk said:


> In Portuguese:
> More correctly: Bebe como/igual a um gambá (He drinks like an opossum).
> But you may also hear: Bebe igual/que nem um gambá.


I've already heard some people say "Ele/ela dormiu com Bacco".  " He/She slept with Bacco" , the Roman mythology god of wine and madness and...


----------



## Karton Realista

phosphore said:


> Serbian:
> 
> Pije kao smuk. (literally: [h]e drinks like an aesculpian snake.)





Orlin said:


> Bulgarian: пие като смок. (the same literal meaning)


Polish: Pije jak smok. Smok - dragon.
I always believed that it was connected with the legend about szewczyk Dratewka, a guy that gave the dragon living near Cracov a goat filled with sulphur. The dragon became thirsty, so he drank the water from Vistula 'till he burst and died.


----------



## 810senior

Messquito said:


> In Chinese:
> 牛飲
> 牛＝cow/ox...
> 飲＝drink


What about 鯨飲(drinking like a whale)? Is it understandable to Chinese speakers?


----------



## Messquito

I've never heard of it, and when I searched it, only results that came up were all Japanese. So I guess it is not idiomatic in Chinese, but we would sure understand it after further explanation.


----------



## 810senior

Thanks for your reply! I found it in dictionary as well as 牛飲(the same as Chinese) so I thought it would be in Chinese too.


----------



## SuperXW

I never heard of 牛饮. Maybe it is a classical saying.
To my experience, the word 鲸吞 (whale-swallow) is more common.
However, 鲸吞 is not to describe drinking, but eating.


----------



## 810senior

Thanks for your curious reply, SuperXW. Let me ask you one thing about it. I wonder if it still means what you mentioned because my Chinese-Japanese dictionary says the 鲸吞 means to swallow or absorb someone's terrain or property and it doesn't bring up the sense about eating or something.

Now I recall, by the way, some Japanese four-worded phrase including it: 鯨飲馬食(drinking like a whale, eating like a horse; means to eat bunches of foods and drinks).


----------



## SuperXW

Indeed, 鲸吞 can be used as a metaphor which means to absorb someone's territory and property. However, the metaphor is still based on the sense of "eating".
I don't think 鯨飲馬食 exists in Chinese. Glad to know it!


----------



## 810senior

Thanks again! I'm always curious about the way every kinds of 漢字(and its phrases or idioms too) is used in the languages that include it.


----------



## Doraemon-

In Spain we say "bebe como una esponja" ("he drinks like a sponge": referring to alcohol, of course).


----------



## eno2

[Moderator's Note: Merged with a previous thread -- Ghabi]
Hello

Dutch: Zuipen als een vergiet (literaly: drink like a colander)

In Spanish it would be something like 'empinar el codo'


----------



## TheCrociato91

Hi.

*Italian*. _Bere come una spugna_ (_drink like a sponge_)


----------



## eno2

We also say 'drink like a sponge' in Dutch: Drinken als een spons.
It English the expression seems to be: drink like a fish. (and perhaps many others?)


----------

