proverb · Source-linked selection
To eat and drink, and sleep together, is marriage, methinks.
To eat and drink, and sleep together, is marriage, methinks.
In print by 1857 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Sharing everyday life can matter more to a relationship than a public description of it. The source’s informal definition draws attention to ordinary companionship, while leaving out much that a partnership also needs.
What the words are saying
Eating, drinking and sleeping together describe routines rather than a ceremony or a grand promise. The saying can suggest that a relationship takes shape through the time people spend alongside one another. It is deliberately incomplete: a shared address or routine does not establish affection, mutual agreement or a fair division of responsibilities. Nor does it decide what counts as marriage in a particular setting. The useful reading asks how everyday conduct supports the relationship, rather than treating one set of habits as sufficient proof of commitment.
Everyday example
Two partners find that they share a home but rarely talk about their days. They set aside time to listen and discuss practical arrangements rather than assuming that the address alone keeps them connected.
When to use it
Use it to discuss the ordinary routines through which a relationship is experienced.
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What it does not mean
This is a historical social observation, not a legal definition of marriage or a test of which relationships deserve respect.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional (French-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1857 AD · industrial
In print by 1857: recorded in A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857) (1857 AD)
Printed page 8; French section, paragraph 161; source wording: Boire et manger, coucher ensemble, c’est mariage, ce me semble.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.