I Never Knew There Was a Word for It - Adam Jacot De Boinod [118]
stranger (Sussex) a single tea-leaf floating in a cup of tea
laptea (US slang) a crowded tea party where guests sit in each other’s laps
to smash the teapot (late 19C) to abandon one’s pledge of abstinence from alcohol (the symbolic rejection of tea as one’s sole liquid stimulant)
DOWN AT THE OLD BULL AND BUSH
In Britain the drinking of alcohol has always been, for better or worse, at the heart of the community. The Romans had tabernae (the origin of our word tavern), which turned into the Anglo-Saxon alehouses, where a brewer would put a green bush up on a pole when the ale was ready to drink:
kiddleywink (1830) an unlicensed public house
build a sconce (18C) to run up a large bill at a tavern especially when one has no intention of paying
brendice (1673) a cup in which a person’s health is drunk
spit chips (Australian slang 1901) to have extreme thirst (from the idea of having dry wood in your mouth)
flairing (Sydney slang) the action of bartenders of balancing, catching, flipping, spinning or throwing bottles, glasses, napkins or straws with finesse and style
MINE’S A NIPPITATUM
The traditional pint comes in many forms:
arms and legs (UK slang 19C) weak beer (i.e. a drink that has no body)
nippitatum (1576) exceptionally strong beer
barbed wire (Australian slang, Darwin) Four X beer (from the xxxx symbol)
parson’s collar (1940s) the froth on top of a glass of beer neckum, sinkum and
swankum (Berkshire) the three draughts into which a jug of beer is divided
ON THE NAIL
Though for refined types more Continental beverages may be preferred, whatever their quality:
supernaculum (1592) the finest wine, which is so good it is drunk to the last drop, referring to the custom of turning over a drained glass and letting the last drop of wine fall onto the thumbnail (from the Latin ‘upon the nail’)
butler’s perks (UK euphemism) opened but unfinished bottles of wine
beeswing (1860) the scum found on the surface of aged wine
balderdash (1611) adulterated wine
PEARLY GATES
The names of British pubs are not all that they seem – certainly if you’re looking at the picture on the sign hanging outside them. The Cat and Fiddle didn’t derive from a music-loving publican who kept cats, but is a corruption of Catherine le Fidèle, which refers to the faithfulness of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife. The Hope and Anchor comes from the Biblical text ‘We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope’; The Cross Keys is the symbol of St Peter, the gatekeeper of heaven; and The Royal Oak commemorates the tree that hid Charles II from Oliver Cromwell’s forces after his defeat at Worcester.
LAST GASPER
In Tudor times drink actually meant to smoke tobacco, something you could once do inside the bar. Now the misocapnists (1839), those who hate the smell of smoke, are in charge, so that’s a pleasure restricted to the pavements outside:
smirting (US slang New York) flirting between people who are smoking cigarettes outside a pub, office etc.
vogueress (Polari slang) a female smoker
casablanca (Tommies’ slang 1914–18) the last one, especially of cigarettes
doofer (workmen’s slang b.1935) half a cigarette
toss the squares (US black slang) to pass a packet of cigarettes
whiffler (1617) a smoker of tobacco
JUST THE ONE
Take it or leave it, boozing is a serious business:
cagg (UK military slang b.1811) a solemn vow or resolution used by private soldiers not to get drunk for a certain time
parson palmer (late 18C) a term of reproach, to one who stops the decanter circulating by preaching over his liquor (as was done by a parson of that name whose cellar was under his pulpit)
duffifie (Aberdeenshire) to lay a bottle on its side for some time, after its contents have been poured out, so that it may be completely drained of the remaining few drops
SPEAKEASY
Just make sure your companions understand the importance of paying their way: