(vii) A lot of people only drink half (UK) pints because they find a full pint too much to drink in one go. So what's the big deal about the litre?
With respect, hardly anyone drinks half-pints in the UK. Apart from the fact that the queues at the bar are long enough on a Friday/ Saturday night to resist the repeated returns:
1) There is a stigma attached to half-pints for men. I know it's daft but even I felt embarrased recently for getting a half-pint when I had to be somewhere else in 5-minutes. The trick, by the way, is to empty your half-pint into a pint glass (that you had already drunk from). Silly, but true.
2) The advent of the laddette about 7 ot 8 yrs ago has seen this stigma get attached to women. Go back 15 yrs and it would look very bad for a woman to drink from a pint glass, now they intend to "keep up with the lads". Of course, its gone too far now and women are the biggest binge drinkers.
