1/24/2008

Legally Drunk

I'm a little confused.

I'm reading an article that tells the story of who was responsible, and should be responsible in an alcohol-related automobile accident that resulted in the death of a minor. Details of the story aside, the term "legally drunk" was used multiple times.

Now. I know I'm reading waaaaay too much into it, but one would think that being legally drunk would mean that you had consumed alcohol, but had maintained a BAC of less than your state's legal limit, usually .10 or .08, depending on how cool your state is.

Everybody says, "the legal limit in (my state) is .08." That would mean that the illegal limit is anything above that. .09, .10, .40.

Now in the article, it says the girl who was driving was legally drunk. They mean that her blood alcohol level was above the legal limit. Of course, she was underage, so anything above a .00 is illegal. They should be saying that she's illegally drunk, right?

Am I just being weird about this, or do I have a valid argument?

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that if you are drunk, and you are above the legal limit, the you should be called illegally drunk. If you are drunk, and you are below the legal limit, then you should be called legally drunk. If you are sober, and not a celebrity, you should be called legally sober. If you are a member of Congress, then you can be called illegally sober.

'nuff said.

3 comments:

Jess said...

I think it's called "legally" drunk because you are at the stage where the law says you're drunk. Then you can go about and engage in activities that may be illegal only because you are legally drunk.

I wish I was drunk right now. Legally or otherwise.

Geoff said...

I just think about what the opposite of legally drunk would be.

The opposite of legal is illegal.
illegally drunk?

The opposite of drunk is sober.
legally sober?

Clearly, I do not drink enough.

Jess said...

It's a good question. Maybe I'll come up with an answer after I drink more wine.