Thought (yeah, I know this is a dangerous thing for me.....) that everyone
might find the following history of Slang Terms intersting. I'm thinking
that a quite a few would be interested as a number pertain to beer and are
of Brit origin.....
Allan
B9472373
It was the accepted practice in Babylonia 4,000 years ago that for a month
after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all
the mead
he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar
based, this period was called the "honey month" - or what we know today as
the
honeymoon".
Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger
into the
mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast. Too cold, and the
yeast wouldn't grow. Too hot, and the yeast would die. This thumb in the
beer is where we get the phrase "rule of thumb".
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. so in old England,
when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their
own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind
your P's and Q's".
Beer was the reason the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. It's clear from
the Mayflower's log that the crew didn't want to waste beer looking for a
better site. The log goes on to state that the passengers "were hastened
ashore and made to drink water that the seamen might have the more beer".
After consuming a bucket or two of vibrant brew they called al, or ale,
the Vikings would head fearlessly into battle often without armor or even
shirts. In fact, the term "berserk" means "bare shirt" in Norse, and
eventually took on the meaning of their wild battles.
In 1740 Admiral Vernon of the British fleet decided to water down the
navy's rum. Needless to say, the sailors weren't too pleased and called
Admiral Vernon, Old Grog, after the stiff wool program coats he wore. The
term "grog" soon began to mean the watered down drink itself. When you
were drunk on this grog, you were "groggy", a word still in use today.
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the
rim or handle of their ceramic cups. when they needed a refill, they used
the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle", is the phrase
inspired by this practice.
In the middle ages, "luncheon" was the word for liquid lunches. It was a
combination of the words "noon scheken", or noon drinking. In those days,
a large chunk of bread was called lunch. So if you ate bread with your
munchion, you had what we still today call a luncheon.
Cynicism SUCKS !!
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