In Welsh, many ‘states of being’ are conveyed with the use of verbs, paired with wedi (after / past): think wedi marw (dead), wedi cynhyrfu (excited), or wedi blino (tired). In some cases the verbs used aren’t ones that have a commonly used single-word equivalent in English, but in Welsh they can be important and convenient.
An example of this is meddwi, which means to get drunk, to make drunk, or to be drunk.
meddwi
to get drunk
We see it very often in the phrase wedi meddwi (drunk as an adjective) but it also functions as a verb on its own terms, in phrases like peidiwch â meddwi (don’t get drunk), and as a verb-noun referring to alcoholic intoxication generally.
You can pair it with the preposition ar if you want to specify a particular intoxicating substance, as in meddwi ar win rhad (to get drunk on cheap wine), or, figuratively, meddwi ar gariad (to get drunk with love).
Meddwi takes only the soft mutation:
Soft mutation
feddwi
Nasal mutation
N/A
Aspirate mutation
N/A
Meddwi comes from meddw, itself a not-so-distant relative of the English mead, referring to a particular kind of alcoholic diod (drink) made with mêl (honey). The Cornish word medhow (drunk, intoxicated) likely comes from the same root.
The word meddw itself means drunk, too; wedi meddwi is just a somewhat more colloquial way of saying it, which, for speakers in much of the country, is the go-to in casual conversations. Another common one is wedi (ei) dal hi (literally, having caught it).
But that doesn’t mean meddw isn’t useful. Far from it. For one thing, it appears in a few nice compound words like penfeddw (light-headed, not necessarily as a result of drunkenness, or sometimes high) and lledfeddw (slightly drunk, tipsy).
Other words in the family are meddwol (intoxicating or alcoholic) and meddwdod (drunkenness).
Falle bod hi wedi meddwi – mae hi’n swnio braidd yn rhyfedd.
Maybe she’s drunk – she sounds a bit weird.
Like pretty much every country in the world, Wales has a long history with alcohol. The complexity starts with the fact that there’s no one agreed upon word for it. Some of the options include:
- alcohol = the easy option, borrowing the English
- gwirod = specifically means hard liquor, but often used more generally
- cwrw = specifically means beer, but often used more generally
- diod feddwol = literally intoxicating drink / alcoholic drink
- diod gadarn = literally hard drink
- diod = literally just drink!
Whatever you do, don’t make the mistake of using ysbrydion. This means spirits but not the alcoholic kind, so it will sound very silly. To give you a sense of just how silly, imagine walking into your local archfarchnad (supermarket) to pick up some diodydd (drinks) and finding yourself confronted with a sign that says ‘Ghosts’!
I once heard a story of this exact thing happening in a Tesco in South Wales – ‘Ysbrydion’ being used to label the alcohol section. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but it wouldn’t be the first time Tesco have made an amusing mistake with Welsh signage… or even the second.
Do, mi feddwodd yn ulw.
Yes, he got totally drunk.
Cwrw (beer), sometimes tablen in the South-East, was one of the first important alcoholic drinks consumed by the Welsh, brewed as long ago as the pre-Roman era. Its lasting importance is clear in the fact that cwrw is, as mentioned, sometimes used to refer to alcohol in a generic sense. Visit Wales have a guide to Welsh beers and breweries if you’re interested.
The diod feddwol most closely associated with Welsh culture, however, is probably not cwrw but considerably stronger stuff – I’m talking of course about Welsh wisgi / chwisgi (whiskey).
Though the drink has been distilled in Wales since the Middle Ages, the industry died out in the 19th century under pressure from Wales’ significant mudiad dirwest (temperance movement). After a revival spearheaded by the Penderyn distyllfa (distillery), wisgi Cymreig (Welsh whiskey) is now one of the country’s most important exports and has received ‘protected geographical indication’ status in the UK.
I think the most appropriate way to conclude this article would be with some fun ways to describe being drunk from around Wales with their literal translations. Wedi meddwi is just the tip of the iceberg!
- meddw gorn = horn-drunk
- meddw gaib / wedi meddwi’n gaib = pick-axe drunk
- wedi meddwi’n racs = drunk to rags
- wedi meddwi’n chwil (ulw) = reeling drunk
- meddw chwildrins mân / yn chwildrins ulw = drunk in little pieces
- wedi yfed llaeth y fuwch goch = having drunk the red cow’s milk
- wedi yfed fel ych = having drunk like an ox
- ar y sliw (fawr) = on the warp
- cyn feddwed â’r beipen = as drunk as the pipe
- heb ddim bagl o dano = with no legs under him
Did I miss a cool idiom from your part of the country, or a unique phrase you’ve come across on TV? Let us know!
