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I asked a question here recently regarding the same material and thanks for that. I have a different question this time though.

For context, 3 people (Uncle and Nephew + Nephew's friend) are drinking beer at home. After some time, they stop drinking. The son goes to sleep due to being drunk. The father then cleans the dishes, and the friend cleans up the table. This was the dialogue that followed:

Father: 毎週飲んで遺れてるのにちょっとも強くなんないの

Friend: テコでも起きませんもんね

Does the 遺れてる here refer to the son passing out? or something else being left behind (like beer or something)?

I assumed that "ちょっとも強くなんないの" translated to "When is he going to be come a little strong (against beer). Is that right?

Thanks to anyone who takes the time, in advance.

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    Are you sure it's ちょっと強くなんないの, and not ちっとも強くなんないの (or maybe ちょっとしか強くなんないの)? – VVayfarer May 13 at 20:13
  • I double checked and it is ちっとも強くなんないの . Sorry. Edited the post just now. – Brooky8 May 13 at 20:22
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潰れる literally means "crumble", and here it more or less denotes the process of "getting dead drunk". According to デジタル大辞泉, it's described as

７ 酒に酔って動けなくなる。「―・れるまで飲む」

"To get so drunk as to become unable to move."

In this context, 強さ refers to resistance towards alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol tolerance. A person who can drink very much without showing signs of intoxication is said to be「お酒に強い」. This resistance tends to increase the more a person drinks (due to increased expression of enzymes that metabolize ethanol in the liver), and thus the father here laments (or pokes fun at) the fact that this does not seem to occur in his son's case.

The actual sentence could be translated like

"I don't get it; he gets drunk on a weekly basis, and yet he still hasn't developed any tolerance."

or maybe like

"Every week he drinks until he passes out, and yet he never gains any tolerance..."

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  • Thanks. I was wrong to assume 潰れる and 潰る is the same thing. Also, am I right in assuming テコ means assistant or helper in this case? Is the friend calling the son, a helper? – Brooky8 May 13 at 20:25
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    @RavenOlaco Um, are you aware you made another typo in your original question? 潰 and 遣 are two different kanji. – naruto May 13 at 20:28
  • @Raven Olaco; Ah, no. テコでも起きません is like "He's impossible to wake up". More literally it means something like "You wouldn't be able to wake him up, even if you tried using a lever." This comes from the expression "梃子でも動かない". – VVayfarer May 13 at 20:29

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