Electric Lemonade: Alcohol and vocabulary and elocution

[FitzChivalry]

Does consumption of alcohol increase your vocabulary and elocution?


Because it does for me, and I find that strange. If I've been drinking, all of a sudden SAT words are spilling from my mouth in a fluent, eloquent, engaging manner.

In fact, a few weeks ago, after being at a bar with a friend and a few margaritas and Don Julio shots later, I was speaking in Spanish to 2 Hispanic women who said I wasn't doing that bad of a job. I haven't had a Spanish class in almost 12 years and the sentences were just flowing.

Now sober, I speak like a regular Joe and I'm not really the most eloquent of speakers. I know I'm a much better writer and when I write my vocabulary definitely increases, but speaking is a different story. After drinking . . . . damn! I'm making up poetry and short stories on the spot!

Of course, passed a certain point, well, yes, then drunkeness sets in and words begin to slur and jumble. But apparently, just prior to the drunk stage, I turn into an ersatz Robert Frost or Anne Tyler.

Why is this? Does anyone know? Does this happen to anyone else?

 

[LMP]

are you Peter Griffin?

 

[redkat]

We need video

 

[VintagePunk]

My guess is when you're in that magical period of relaxed but not yet drunk, perhaps you become more confident and outgoing, displaying eloquence you've had all along, but generally don't use?

There's a concept in psychology called state/mood-dependent memory, whereby whatever mood/circumstance you were in during a time that learning occurred, you're more likely to be able to retrieve that learned material later if you place yourself in the same 'state/mood' that you were in when the thing was originally learned.

Studies have been done with intoxicated and non-intoxicated participants. Each group was given a word list to memorize, and then tested the next day for recall. The results were:

Those sober during both learning and testing did best. However, those intoxicated during learning, and sober during the test, and those sober during the learning and intoxicated during the test did worse than those intoxicated during both the learning and the testing.

Were you tipsy perhaps, when you gained your more complex vocabulary?

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

But apparently, just prior to the drunk stage, I turn into an ersatz Robert Frost

But was Robert Frost any fun at parties?

I can apparently hold my drinks better than I feel like I do. The last time I was out with friends and got really drunk, everybody said I seemed fine, including the people with us who weren't drinking, and for the last half hour, I kept feeling like I was about to fall over.

It's funny how alcohol affects people differently. Make sure you use your powers for good instead of evil

 

[UberBeaver]

My guess is when you're in that magical period of relaxed but not yet drunk, perhaps you become more confident and outgoing, displaying eloquence you've had all along, but generally don't use?

There's a concept in psychology called state/mood-dependent memory, whereby whatever mood/circumstance you were in during a time that learning occurred, you're more likely to be able to retrieve that learned material later if you place yourself in the same 'state/mood' that you were in when the thing was originally learned.

Studies have been done with intoxicated and non-intoxicated participants. Each group was given a word list to memorize, and then tested the next day for recall. The results were:

Those sober during both learning and testing did best. However, those intoxicated during learning, and sober during the test, and those sober during the learning and intoxicated during the test did worse than those intoxicated during both the learning and the testing.

Were you tipsy perhaps, when you gained your more complex vocabulary?

Are you sure these results were statistically feasible? Was the sample size large enough? What about the control group? Was there even a control group VP? COME ON!

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

We need video

 

[snowbunny00774]

most times I agree, however, the important times, bloody never