If there were any proof for the phrase, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” it would be the hangover. Germans experience the katzenjammer (screeching cats) and the Irish the “brown-bottle flu," while the Vietnamese must tồn tại (endure).
Before English speakers spoke of hangovers, they used the wonderfully descriptive term crapulous, as in “I’m feeling so crapulous, I can’t risk talking.”
Whichever language you speak, we can agree that hangovers are awful. Studies define them as “characterized by a general feeling of misery” and “an aversive constellation of symptoms.”
But, believe it or not, some people report not suffering from hangovers at all: Studies have found that around 20 percent of people claim they can avoid post-drinking anguish.
Is it true that nearly a third of people don’t experience hangovers? To assess these somewhat dubious claims, it’s important to consider the range of (awful) symptoms and what incites them.
