in vino veritas
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in vino veritas
A Latin phrase meaning "in wine, there is truth," alluding to how people are said to be more truthful or open when they are intoxicated. Whenever I need to get the truth out of someone, I just open a bottle of wine. In vino veritas—it works every time!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
in vino veritas
Drunks speak the truth. This Latin expression, literally “In wine [is] truth,” was already used by the ancient Greeks and probably survived so long in the Latin form because Erasmus in his widely circulated Adagia so rendered it. There are versions in numerous languages. The cliché is heard less often nowadays, but as the study of Latin is slowly reviving it may surface more often.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer