The morning after: Regrets, I have a few

Just about everyone enjoys a good drink with friends: the pleasant clinking of glasses, the camaraderie and celebration. But, before you know it you are squinting through one eye, drunk-texting and buying an over-priced round for anyone who wants one. Next thing you know you are dragging yourself from the darkened pits of despair; waking in the gutter at 6 am, your vomit-encrusted shirt stinking of smoke and stale booze as morning joggers sneer as you stagger towards where you think home is before slipping into a coma.

The euphoria of being a little more than tipsy soon leads to going off the deep end. If this is the case, in Chinese, we can say 撒酒瘋 (sā jiǚfēng), meaning you went crazy; you were so drunk that you were dancing wildly, perhaps even on the bar, and having a whale of a time.

Now, as your crazed evening continues and the shots keep flowing, the cloud of drunkenness may begin to consume you; you start to lose control of your actions and you decide to take yourself home before things get worse and you do something you might regret. In that case, you can say that you are 喝高了, 喝大了(hē gāo le, hē dà le) or blind drunk

(我喝高了, 我要回家。 Wǒ hē gāo le, wǒ yào hújiā. I'm blind drunk, I need to go home).

So, as you stagger from the bar and try to find your keys, phone and wallet, you may succumb to the power of the alcohol pumping through your veins and give up all hope of getting home or remaining conscious: 我們發現他爛醉如泥地躺在街上。(Wǒmen fāxiàn tā làn zuì rú ní de tǎngzài jiēshàng. We found him unconscious in the street.)

As you come round, after having your stomach pumped, you may say to the nurse treating you that you have no recollection of the evening and that you have had a complete 斷片兒 (duànpiānr), blackout (我完全不記得昨晚發生了什么，我喝斷片兒了。Wǒ wánquǎn bù jìdé zuówǎn fāshēng le shénme, wǒ hē duànpiānr le. I can't remember anything from last night. I have a memory blackout).

Finally, I have to remind you, 酒醉傷身 (jiǔ zuì shāng shēn， getting drunk is harmful to health). Please try to stay clear-minded with a bottle in your hand. In any case drink should not be the only way to enjoy life with your friends.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/17/2014 page27)