What Does It Mean to Be Drinking by the Fifth?

A typical liquor bottle measures about "a fifth."

When serving alcohol, bartenders often use a series of terms that do not seem to make sense. This includes lingo regarding alcohol measurements, such as pouring a "fifth" of liquor.

Meaning

When someone refers to "drinking by the fifth" or drinking "a fifth," he is talking about a measurement of alcohol. This term is most often used to quantify amounts of liquor, as bottles of liquor usually come in amounts of fifths.

Amount

A fifth measurement is approximately a fifth of a gallon. This amounts to about 25.6 ounces, which is about 25.6 shots.

Packaging

Most hard liquor is sold in bottles where the product inside amounts to a fifth. However, the liquor will not be identified as being measured in fifth amounts; instead, the label will usually state that the bottle contains 750 mL of alcohol.

References

• Indiana Prevention Resource Center: Factline on Alcohol Doses, Measurements, and Blood Alcohol Levels
• The Free Dictionary: Fifth