I DIDN'T KNOW THAT! . . .
In Baltimore, in the mid 1800's there was a man who sold corpses
to the hospital for research. He stored the cadavers in cheap
whiskey to ferment them before turning them over to the
researchers. He then sold the whiskey to the medical students...
thus the term "rot gut."
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."
After consuming a bucket or two of vibrant brew they called aul, 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 grogram
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.
--
John H. Hoffmann
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"All your dreams come true, if you
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-- Walt Disney
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