In The Times today (24 July 2015), Tom Whipple writes about the middle classes “suffering crisis in alcohol abuse”; “Harmful alcohol consumption [is] defined as about a large glass and a half of wine every day for men and a large glass for women.” What size is a large glass of wine? Is it 125 ml? 250ml? 375ml (half a bottle)? None of the proscriptive assessments of the amount of wine one should drink ever give exact amounts. Nor do they take into account alcoholic strength: wine can vary from 12% to 15%. Does the alcoholic strength make a real difference? I think we should be told. Otherwise, it is difficult to take seriously these “nanny knows best” injunctions. Science is supposed to be specific. Would a doctor state that a patient should be given a “large syringe” of codeine, or would he or she prescribe a specific amount? I hope the latter. So why not be specific about glass size and alcoholic strength when it comes to booze?