in (one's) cups
in (one's) cups
Drunk. When you're in your cups, foolish ideas have a peculiar tendency of sounding like excellent ones. He called to apologize the following morning, claiming that he had been in his cups when he made those rude remarks.
See also: cup
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
in one's cups
Euph. drunk. She doesn't make much sense when she's in her cups. The speaker—who was in his cups—could hardly be understood.
See also: cup
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
in one's cups
Drunk, as in You can't believe anything he says when he's in his cups. [Early 1600s]
See also: cup
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
in your cups
while drunk. informalIn your cups is now used mainly to mean ‘drunk’, but in former times the phrase could also mean ‘during a drinking bout’. Either could be intended in the passage in the Apocrypha regarding the strength of wine: ‘And when they are in their cups, they forget their love both to friends and brethren, and a little after draw out swords’ (1 Esdras 3:22).
1948 Vladimir Nabokov Letter I have received your letter… and can only excuse its contents by assuming that you were in your cups when you wrote it.
See also: cup
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
in (one's) cups
Intoxicated; drunk.
See also: cup
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
- a fool and his money are soon parted
- fool and his money are soon parted
- fool and his money are soon parted, a
- parted
- doofus
- backassed
- a mug's game
- be a mug's game
- (there's) no fool like an old fool
- be (not) (one's) bag