Food that has been preserved by being soaked in vinegar or salt water, or someone who is drunk.
From Dutch 'pekel' meaning brine, entering English around the 1500s through trade. The pickling process itself is ancient—Egyptians pickled vegetables as early as 2000 BCE. The slang use for 'drunk' developed much later, possibly from the idea of being preserved in alcohol.
Pickling was humanity's pre-refrigeration superhero—entire civilizations survived winters by pickling foods, and the process actually creates beneficial probiotics that modern science now recognizes as incredibly healthy for your gut.
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