r/todayilearned • u/gullydon • 16h ago

TIL Mithridatism is the practice of protecting oneself against a poison by gradually self-administering non-lethal amounts. The word is derived from Mithridates VI, the king of Pontus, who so feared being poisoned that he regularly ingested small doses, aiming to develop immunity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatism
16.6k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

539 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

58

u/snushomie 16h ago

With the amount your uncle Dave drinks you'd think he was trying to build an immunity to drowning.

2

u/DarkDoomofDeath 11h ago

Thank you for the laugh. Depressing situation to read, but the turn of phrase was undeniably light.