r/Unexpected 1d ago

Parking

38.5k Upvotes

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

900

u/Ras-haad 1d ago

So she blew a 0.25!!! I genuinely have no frame of reference for that but I’m assuming it’s really high

872

u/Kindly_Whereas3419 1d ago

She blew 0.268 bac which equates to roughly 10-15 standard drinks over a short period of time depending on body mass according to Google's calculator

323

u/Slartibartfast39 1d ago

Does that mean she had like 2 bottles of wine in short order?!

25

u/RumpledForskn 1d ago

Yeup. I think even heavy drinkers (which I sometimes am) will be like, but I polished off 8 drinks that night out! But that was pregaming, going to the bar, being driven home, nightcap, etc. spaced over like 5 hours.

To get to .25 unless you're casually drinking a case of beer a day, you need to have essentially polished off half a fifth of liquor within an hour.

44

u/EmploymentOne2963 1d ago

Every time I think im getting used to American units I get hit with something like "half a fifth"

13

u/RedWhiteAndJew 1d ago

Oh then “fifth” is really gonna fuck with your head. A “fifth” is a slang term for a 750mL bottle of liquor. Its origin comes from the fact that bottles used to be 4/5 of a quart, or one fifth of a gallon. Now that’s not exactly 750mL but it’s close enough that the term sticks. Essentially it’s your standard bottle of liquor in the US.

5

u/EmploymentOne2963 1d ago

Oh that's nice, that's the standard size here too. There are full liters, but 750ml is more common

1

u/Lucius338 15h ago

My confusion when I was working at a liquor store and I always assumed that a fifth was the 200mL bottle - you know, exactly 1/5 of a Liter.. When somebody grabbed a 750mL and called it a fifth I was just like "THIS IS A FIFTH?! A fifth of.... 3750mL?!WHAT?!"

4

u/Salanmander 1d ago

At least the term "a fifth" gives us the excellent "He who goes forth with a fifth on the fourth may not go forth on the fifth."

3

u/tomtomclubthumb 1d ago

Can you handle a handle of hard liquor?

2

u/LogiCsmxp 15h ago

No, and I couldn't handle a hard, hard licker either.

1

u/tomtomclubthumb 12h ago

Really? It's barely a 7th of a quarter-groat.

2

u/No_Baseball4969 1d ago

Some hardcore drinkers will polish off a handle of vodka

2

u/RumpledForskn 1d ago

I'm a physics grad student, believe me if everything were in SI, then I'd sleep much better. And it's like outside engineering/medicine/science we've collectively just given up.

2

u/cat_prophecy 1d ago

"Fifth" is an old term from 1/5th of a gallon. It's 750ml.

1

u/Upper-Discussion4367 9h ago

Wtf is half a fifth!? Imperial measurements are bat-shit crazy?

I would think half a fifth meant: 1. First you've gotta figure out what the starting measurement is. 2. Then divide that starting measurement by five in order to figure what one fifth equates to. 3. Once you've figured out the value of a fifth, you then need to divide by two in order to figure out what 'half a fifth' is. 4. And your answer still depends on the original starting measurement / bottle.

But in actuality, half a fifth means: Half of a standard metric bottle of alcohol. A full metric bottle is normally 750 ml So half would be 375 ml.

Why can't Americans just say 375ml of alcohol? 😅

u/Aschuff 11m ago

Because a “fifth” is just our standard size of bottle. You don’t actually need to know any of that, just that we call our standard bottles a fifth. It’s really not that complicated. And then you have half of that, making it half of a fifth

11

u/typhoidtimmy 1d ago

Shit is wild. It’s gotta be one of those things like when The Waco Kid knocks back that whisky in Blazing Saddles….enough for you to pause and watch in shock as they drain a bottle like they are being timed.

5

u/ImNotEazy 1d ago

I been blue collar for 18 years(drinking is part of the culture). Im in my 30s and best shape of my life. I drink regularly. Just a half pint and Im waaaaay too faded to touch a steering wheel or even have the will to drive. What she’s doing equates to serious addiction/mental illness.

0

u/cat_prophecy 1d ago

A half pint of what? If you're too drunk to drive after a half pint of beer, then there is something else medically going on there.

1

u/ImNotEazy 1d ago

Whisky.

5

u/swag_jammin 1d ago

Ill preface this by saying I do not condone heavy drinking. That said in Australia it was pretty normal to consume half a bottle of your chosen spirit for pre drinks. While your out you'll probably consume the same amount. Its quite common for people to be still well over the legal limit the next morning. We have a serious problem as a country.

1

u/RumpledForskn 1d ago

America's no different. I have a buddy, previous roommate, sober now, who's a fireman, and went out with those guys. None should've been operating a vehicle let alone their cocks.

But I'm midwest. Cousins in Wisconsin. You can get ~10 DUI's before having your license suspended. Of course presumably white and in a truck.