μια και κάτω

[Theseus]

A very puzzling idiom is this for me. In Rabelais Gargantua there is a passage about the baby Gargamel bore to Grangousie,viz. Gargantua. This is the English translation:- Grangousier was a good fellow in his time, and notable jester; he loved to drink neat, as much as any man that then was in the world, and would willingly eat salt meat.
'He loved to drink neat' is rendered into Greek as του άρεσε να πίνει μια και κάτω...
What does this idiom mean literally & how does it come to that meaning? I am familiar with the usual sense of μιας/μια και meaning 'since'.

 

[sarant]

Μια και κάτω means μονορούφι, with a single gulp, in one go.

But this is not the same as " drink neat" which means with no water-ice-whatever else added: το ούζο πίνει ανέρωτο και τον καφέ του σκέτο, που λέει το τραγούδι για τον "άντρα τον πολλά βαρύ"

I wonder what is the original wording.

 

[Theseus]

I was puzzled by the idiom which in my mind I had worked out meant μια (φορά) και κάτω i.e. 'one time & down' -- 'downed in one', just as sarant confirms. It seems as if the French original confused both translators: aimant à boire net autant qu' homme qui pour lors fût au monde...This is the original wording. 'Net/nette' means 'flat/flatly'. Does it mean here 'just as much as' with the following 'autant'?
This is the entry in the French website reverso:-
net, nette
adj
(=sans équivoque, distinct) clear
La distinction n'est pas nette. The distinction isn't clear.
[photo] sharp
(avant le nom)
[progrès] definite
[différence, hausse, ralentissement] marked
→ une nette hausse des ventes de portables
→ un net ralentissement
(=propre) neat
faire place nette to make a clean sweep
(COMMERCE)
[prix, salaire, poids] net
Poids net: 500 g. Net weight: 500 g.
net d'impôt tax free
adv [refuser] flatly
Il a refusé net de nous aider. He flatly refused to help us.
s'arrêter net to stop dead
casser net to snap in two
la lame a cassé net the blade snapped in two
nm
mettre au net to copy out

 

[Themis†]

I would understand the French original as ασύστολα, ανενδοίαστα.

 

[Theseus]

Thanks, Themis. It is surprising how difficult this phrase has proved to the translators.