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Glite Dictionary
one's poison

one's poison

8.7
A treat someone likes to have to relax, often a drink with alcohol
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : su debilidad
  • For many, chocolate is one's poison.

Examples

  • When we go to the pub, everyone orders their poison before dinner.

  • He chose whiskey as his poison while the others stuck with beer.

  • After a long week, she poured herself her poison and settled in for a quiet evening.

  • Red wine is one's poison.

  • At the bar, I asked her, "What is your poison?" and she replied with a gin and tonic.

  • Over dinner, he revealed that chocolate cake is really his poison when it comes to desserts.

  • When it comes to cocktails, tequila is my favorite poison for a night out.

Synonyms

my poison
vsone's poison
  • Informal
5 9.3

A favourite drink or food that someone enjoys too much

is the general expression for a person's preferred drink or indulgence

Surface Forms

one's poison singular
one's poisons plural

Morphology

one + poison

The construction combines a possessive with 'poison' (a harmful substance), so a B1 learner who knows the words can infer a metaphorical sense—something harmful or guilty-pleasure that a person favors. However, the conventionalized meaning ('preferred drink' or indulgence) and the ironic, idiomatic nuance are not fully predictable from the parts alone, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

One's poison comes from the old saying 'one man's meat is another man's poison', which paints a simple picture: what one person likes can be harmful or strange to another. People began calling their favourite drink their poison as a playful way to admit it might harm them, so today it means a person's 'preferred drink' or chosen treat.