like a drunken sailor

like a drunken sailor

In an unrestrained, feckless, and frivolous manner. Usually used in reference to spending money. He always starts spending money like a drunken sailor right after he gets paid, then struggles to cover his rent and bills toward the end of the month.See also: drunken, like, sailor

like a drunken sailor

With no restraint. A merchant seaman on shore leave with months' worth of pay in his pocket tended to make up for lost time in the drinking and “play-for-pay romance” departments. Fiscal restraint was out of the question. So did miners and cowboys when they too had a chance to go to town, but the image of a sailor prevailed. The sea shanty “What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor?” suggests the same idea of a jocular attitude toward an inebriated mariner.See also: drunken, like, sailor