Eat, drink and be merry. 行樂要及時，今朝有酒今朝醉。
英語用動物形容吃，很形象化，例如小鳥體積小，吃得少：eat like a bird, to eat very little；馬胃口好時，吃得很多：eat like a horse, to eat a lot because you have a large appetite；I could eat a horse means I am very hungry；吃東西時，狼吞虎嚥的樣子，顯得貪婪，難看：eat like a pig = to eat a lot of food, usually in a greedy or disgusting manner. What you are is what you eat and how you eat.
Eat out 在外面吃飯，餐館上的餐牌，可以學英文：when it comes to food, the best word guide is to read the menu。館子菜色國際化，食品的名稱，很多時保留原來國家的語言，充實了英語多元化的內涵，海納百川，有容乃大：French fries, crepe and foie gras; Mexican taco and chilli con carne (a minced beef stew); Italian pasta: macaroni and spaghetti; Indian curry and Tandoori chicken; Russian borscht; Swiss fondue; Korean kimchi; Japanese sushi and tempura; Chinese dim sum, chow mein and chop suey.
招待某人大吃大喝是 wine and dine somebody，即是 treat somebody to an expensive meal；精神食糧方面，值得思考的議題，令人再三咀嚼的談話，耐人尋味的電影等，都可以說：food for thought, an interesting speech, a thought provoking movie or something to think about，例如：I am sure the movie has given us all food for thought。Eat your words 泛指收回自已說過的話，承認自己先前說錯了，趕緊把話給吞回去：you are forced to admit that what you have said before was wrong。To eat humble pie 有忍辱含垢的意思，既當眾認錯並道歉，受到羞辱，感到尷尬：You are sorry for a mistake that you made，especially in situations where this is humiliating or embarrassing for you。另一句意思近似的慣用語是 to eat crow，你承認做錯了事而道歉，尤其是你為這件事感到羞愧：You have been wrong and you apologize, especially in a situation where the mistake makes you feel ashamed。
當你做着兩件截然不同的事，通常只能從其中一項得到好處，但你卻雙收其利：you have your cake and eat it。餅吃了下肚，當然不會再有，所以，我認為原來的版本 eat your cake and have it 更合邏輯。另一句和糕點有關的流行說法：the proof of the pudding is in the eating，空談不如實踐；想要驗證布丁味道的最好辦法，就是嚐一嚐，而不是單單讚賞它的外表，something new can only be judged to be good or bad after it has been tried or used；這句流行語另一個解釋是：success is judged by the final result 有了最後的結果，才能判斷是否成功，you can only say something is a success after it has actually been tried out or used。
飲料方面，跟酒精方面有關的俗語 slang 和成語 idiom 一樣多，有些非常生動傳神。
為某人的健康乾杯：You drink somebody’s health by lifting your glass and then drink from it；經常酗酒，to drink regularly a lot of alcohol is to drink like a fish；You drown your sorrows 借酒澆愁 in order to forget something sad or upsetting；你猛喝酒，以為可以澆愁，you hit the bottle and start drinking too much alcohol because something very unpleasant has happened to you。假如酒精上了頭，影響你的判斷力，令你幹出蠢事：it makes you slightly drunk and affects your judgment so that you do silly things, you can say: it goes to the head。另一方面，你想強調某人沒有喝醉，他異常清醒，you can say: he is as sober as a judge to emphasize that he is not drunk。
喝酒，尤指某天首次沾唇 wet your whistle: you have an alcoholic drink；戒酒，尤其是強調已經戒了酒 on the wagon: you have stopped drinking alcohol：No thanks, I won’t have a beer—I’m on the wagon. 原來以前馬匹拉動賣水的車，運送飲用水或灑路水，坐上這種車的人，喝的只是水，不是酒，所以有 on the wagon 這句慣用語。
To drink someone under the table 表示跟人比酒量，企圖把某人灌醉，you are able to drink much more alcohol than someone else and you can do it without getting drunk；至於在飲料或者低度酒類之中加入酒精，you spike a drink = you add more alcohol to somebody’s drink, without their knowledge；例如在啤酒中摻入伏特加烈酒：you add spirits to a weaker drink, like putting a vodka in someone’s lager。
本專欄逢周二、五刊登
