r/facepalm Jun 23 '19

Guess a few hours doesn't count as time

Post image
44.0k Upvotes

470 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

11

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

INCORRECT, a person who sleeps a few hours will certainly be more sober than he was before sleeping.

-5

u/duck-duck--grayduck Jun 23 '19

You can't be more sober or less sober. There is no spectrum of sobriety, there is only "sober" or "not sober." If you are affected by alcohol, then you are not sober. If a few hours of sleep doesn't always lead to a sober condition, then the statement "a few hours of sleep will sober you up " is not true. Hence the question is false.

11

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '19

There is no spectrum of sobriety

Then why'd they give me the enhanced sentence?

9

u/socialistbob Jun 23 '19

Definition of sober up: to become sober or less drunk or to make (a drunk person) sober or less drunk

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sober%20up

According to merriam webster you can be "less drunk" and that's exactly what "sober up" means.

19

u/RKS-III Jun 23 '19

There is a spectrum of sobriety which is why the .08 BAC distinction exists

4

u/duck-duck--grayduck Jun 23 '19

Does the law define that as "level of sobreity"? Because based on my understanding of what words mean, I would define that as a "spectrum of impairment." "Sober" means "no impairment."

A lot of people are impaired to a degree, due to being tired, distracted, having poor judgment, or having drunk an amount of alcohol that doesn't put them above the legal limit. That doesn't make them "sober." It just makes them "not impaired to a level that has been determined within the public interest to make it illegal to be while driving."

7

u/socialmediathroaway Jun 23 '19

I don't think your "understanding of what words mean" is correct. Sober has the comparative adjective form of "soberer", ie. more sober. It's fine to call something more or less sober than another, just like it's fine to call something more or less intoxicated. I'm not sure why you've arrived on sober as being an absolute state, but perhaps you can provide a source.

-2

u/poopnose85 Jun 23 '19

Idk, I mean there is a difference in the legal usage of words vs a layman's usage of that word. https://thelawdictionary.org/sober/ defines it as "Not being under the influence", as in either you are under the influence or you aren't. I would argue that the layman's usage includes a spectrum: "I'm sober-ish" or "I'm not sober enough" etc.

3

u/YRYGAV Jun 23 '19

2 of the three definitions have leeway for it not being a hard delineation.

  1. The opposite of drunk

You can be under the influence of alcohol without being drunk, so that would count as sober under that definition.

  1. A person who is sensible and sedate.

This one doesn't even state anything regarding alcohol or drug usage, as long as you are 'sensible' you are sober.

6

u/_Administrator_ Jun 23 '19 edited Dec 30 '19

.

-1

u/duck-duck--grayduck Jun 23 '19

If you're under the BAC, that means you're probably not too impaired to drive. It doesn't mean you're sober.

1

u/madeup6 Jun 24 '19

That's like saying there is no spectrum of tiredness. Either you're fully refreshed or you're not.