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drunk tank

He was thrown in the drunk tank. - Его замели в вытрезвитель.

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— Samantha

I've never heard of this. What is it supposed to mean? :)

Пнд, 2004-07-12 15:34 — Vivi
You'd better not know! :)))

If a person is found to be hard drinking in public and moreover s/he's taken one (two, three, four etc...) too many and unstable on his/her feet and/or shouts obscenities and/or picks a fight s/he is thrown into a drunk tank ('tank' is a slang for 'prison, cell') to sober. (Part and parcel of Russian reality)

Чт, 2004-07-29 00:02 — Samantha

Ah, I finally thought of it! In the U.S, we also say 'thrown in the slammer', and I would say that we use that more often than 'thrown in the drunk tank.'

Чт, 2004-07-29 05:10 — Vivi

Well, it's some kind of a prison for drunkards where they are detained until they sober sufficiently to walk free. I don't know much of them either, I'm only aware there is such a thing as 'drunk tank' and if a person in a drunken stupor is found on the street s/he is hauled there.