Phrases- United States

“Liquor before beer, you’re in the clear; Beer before liquor, never been sicker”

Steven said he heard this phrase a long time ago in high school. He said he probably heard it sometime around his junior year. He said that was when he started to go drink with his friends and party. He said that there was this one night where he had drank too much and was throwing up. And one of his friends came up to him and told him to remember: that liquor before beer, you’re in the clear; beer before liquor, never been sicker. This meant that as long as you drink hard alcohol before you start to drink beer, you won’t get sick. I asked him if he thought this was true. And he said that he doesn’t think so. He said that he always drinks whatever there is and has no preference to what he wants to drink first. So he doesn’t think this phrase holds any weight of truth.

I have to agree with Steven on this. I usually start off with a beer at a party. I personally enjoy the taste of beer and so I always like to get a beer first whenever I start to drink. Then later, usually someone always wants to take shots and then I start to drink hard alcohol. There have been several times where I have gotten sick but there also have been many times where I haven’t gotten sick. So I personally do not think that this phrase is true. However, I have heard from other friends that this is true. They always take a shot of hard alcohol before they drink anything else. So I think it might have to do with the individual’s body and possibly the mindset of the individual. The whole drinking hard alcohol beforehand can be like a placebo effect. So it tricks the individuals to think that they are safe from getting sick so in reality they don’t get sick.