5/16/2023 0 Comments Funny words for alcohol![]() Bureau of Prohibition agents were often referred to as Dry Agents (though corruption among this crew ran rampant). DryĪ noun used in reference to a person who is opposed to the legal sale of alcoholic beverages. Teetotal and teetotaler first appeared with their current meanings in 1834, eight years after the formation of the American Temperance Society." And the tee here isn't related to the beverage as Merriam-Webster notes, it's "a reduplication of the letter "t" that begins total, emphasizing that one has pledged total abstinence." 10. According to Merriam-Webster, "In the early 1800s, tee-total and tee-totally were used to intensify total and totally. TeetotalerĪ person who abstains from the consumption of alcohol. ![]() Both were highly potent, illegally made, and poor-quality spirits." 9. White LightningĪccording to Detroit Beer: A History of Brewing in the Motor City, "white lightning was the whiskey equivalent of bathtub gin. Though the phrase references gin specifically, it came to be used as a general term for any type of cheap homemade booze. It was often made in a bottle so tall that it could not be mixed with water from a sink tap and was mixed in a bathtub instead. Bathtub GinĪ homemade-and often poorly made-gin. (And you thought a box of wine was bad!) 7. Oenophiles looking to get their vino fix could do so by simply adding water to a dehydrated block of juice, which would become wine. During Prohibition, these “roads” became popular meeting places for bootleggers. Skid RoadĪ precursor to the term Skid Row, a skid road was the place where loggers hauled their goods. I drink every known alcoholic drink and enjoy them all.” Mencken was also fond of referring to bootleggers as booticians. Mencken in 1920 to describe his love of alcohol he noted, “I'm ombibulous. The numbness led sufferers to walk with a distinct gait that was also known as Jake leg or Jake foot. Jake, a legal substance with an alcoholic base. Jake WalkĪ jake walk is paralysis or loss of muscle control in the hands and feet due to an overconsumption of Jamaican ginger, a.k.a. Juice JointĪccording to the Oxford English Dictionary, this term dates back to 1927 and can be used to refer to "a bar, club, or stall serving either alcoholic or non-alcoholic liquor." It became a term for a speakeasy in the 1930s. According to Merriam-Webster, both phrases were used pre-Prohibition, dating back to 18, respectively. a blind pig) and be given a complimentary cocktail upon entrance. a speakeasy, that attempted to evade police detection by charging patrons a fee to gaze upon some sort of exotic creature (i.e. Blind PigĪn illegal drinking establishment, a.k.a. It's been more than a century since Prohibition took effect (on January 17, 1920) in the United States, and more than 85 years since it ended (on December 5, 1933)-but the colorful colloquialisms it popularized will live on forever.
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