drive (someone) to drink, to

To annoy someone to distraction. A twen- tieth-century Americanism, this expression implies that alcohol-induced oblivion is the only form of escape from the pest in question. W. C. Fields turned it around in his quip, “I was in love with a beautiful blonde once— she drove me to drink—’tis the one thing I’m indebted to her for” (quoted in Whole Grains, by A. Spiegelman and B. Schneider). See also DRIVE UP THE WALL.