Latin Words and Phrases Worth Knowing About: Meribibula

In his Confessions 9.9.18, Saint Augustine recounts the story his mother had related to him about how she became an alcoholic. While there are other ancient discussions of drunkenness, this is arguably the oldest extant report of someone describing alcohol addiction as such.

So Monica was regularly sent by her parents to get wine from the cask. And she was at first averse to the fluid. But she began to wet the tips of her lips with wine. She worked her way up to drinking a glass every time she was sent to deliver some. And this evolved finally into a serious habit.

It happened that one day she went to get some wine, was drinking a portion before preparing the delivery, and an ancilla, a slavegirl, of the household, who had observed the problem for some time, called Monica out. She called Monica a:

Meribibula

Merum is the Latin word for pure wine, id est, wine with no water added. Presumably, the word vinum implies merum with water as well.

The verb bibere means 'to drink'. 

So the compound adjective meribibulus, meribibula, meribibulum means "Pure Wine Drinker."

Well, Monica was so affected by this "insult" that she swore off drinking ever after, apparently becoming the first historically verifiable recovering alcoholic. 

Pray for us, Saint Monica. I admit that I also am quite fond of the fruit of the vine and the drink it produces. Sicut dixit filius tuus, "Da mihi continentiam."

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If you're interested in Latin or ancient history, or even just an entertaining read, check out the time-travel thriller In Saecula Saeculorum. Click to learn more.

It's a bargain at 0.99 cents on Kindle (or affordably priced at $11.90 on paperback). 

You'll travel back to ancient Rome on a harrowing mission to save the modern world. It's the adventure of four lifetimes.

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The 2015 Beaujolais Nouveau

The 2015 Beaujolais Nouveau has the most promise to turn into a drinkable red wine than any previous year I have experienced. 

It already presents a pleasant assault to the palate, as opposed to previous years when it seemed to beg consideration. 

My grade A-.

Cheers! To Your Health! Pro Sanitate Tua!

I'm big on the notion that the living Romance languages are the best window into the actual spoken conventions in ancient Latin. In another post I explored this concept with reference to the words for 'yes' and 'no'. But since I'm sitting at home, having begun my Winter Break, and I'm sipping a glass of wine, I decided to explore the ancient Roman conventions on drinking toasts.

It is known that ancient Greeks and Romans, on drinking occasions, poured out wine libations on behalf of the dead. I have seen this practice still in Romania quite commonly. When wine is set forth, someone will lead the group in pouring out a bit onto a plate or the ground (if outside), with the words pentru morți (for the dead). So we can be safe in assuming that when ancient Romans performed this ritual they poured out wine and spoke the words "pro mortuis."

[Worth memorizing here is the Latin proverb De Mortuis nil sed bonum, 'Concerning the Dead, [speak] nothing but good'.]

But, in addition to the dead, the ancient Romans must also have been making toasts for the health of themselves and their guests. And the common words in the Romance languages for this toast points us to the Latin original.

French: santé
Spanish: salud
Italian: salude
Romanian: sănătate

The Romans undoubtedly made a toast for the health of each other using one or both of the words sanitas and salus. 

[Worth memorizing here, salus populi suprema est lex, 'the safety of the people is the highest law']
 
The Latin toast word prosit (may it be good for someone) has come into German as both prosit and the shortened form prost.

In my novel In Saecula Saeculorum, four high school students are sent back in time to ancient Rome on a mission to save the world. But they are not prepared for the fact that this will mean they are drinking wine at nearly every meal. And one of the students, Carmen, quickly develops a problem with alcohol. And this is a bit of a crisis, because she is also the best fighter in the group. The students are surrounded by dangers that Carmen is best suited to face, all while she sinks ever deeper into her addiction. To find out how it all turns out, click on the cover to explore the book further.

“Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!”

Every year we await the arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau. It's a mass produced red table wine, but it's a fun tradition wherein we try it and see what foods it goes best with. And you compare notes with other oenophiles and therefore spread the love. Now, since we follow a Paleo lifestyle, I need to defend the fact that we do, in fact, drink red wine daily. The Paleo purists assert that we should not consume anything that our Paleolithic ancestors did not.

I have a whole chapter in my recent book, Original Thin: the Paleo Diet in the Bible and Ancient Literature, in which I argue that Paleo purists are misguided on this particular point.

What it boils down to is that abundant research has proven that the consumption of dry red wine is good for you.

Yes, Neanderthal man never took a sip of the stuff.

But to cut yourself off from something that will not make you fat and can help your health, just because the Troglodytes didn't have the pleasure, is unnecessary. So raise your glass.

Here's to the Paleo Diet! It made me thin again. And here's to dry red wine. It's simply good.