‘beer goggles’: meaning and origin
U.S. College slang, 1985—the effects of alcohol thought of metaphorically as a pair of goggles that alter a person’s perceptions especially by making others appear more attractive than they actually are
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‘(here’s) mud in your eye’: meaning—and origin?
USA, 1911—a humorous drinking toast—origin unknown—the image is perhaps that mud in one’s eye blurs one’s vision like alcohol does
Read More‘beer-pong’: meaning and origin
U.S. College slang, 1972—a drinking game in which players attempt to throw ping-pong balls into cups of beer, which must then be drunk by their opponents—from ‘beer’ and the second element of ‘ping-pong’
Read More‘beer-belly’: meanings and origin
1615—a protruding belly caused by excessive beer drinking; a person (typically a man) who has a protruding belly caused by excessive beer drinking
Read More‘beer-can chicken’: meaning and origin
USA (Louisiana), 1996—a dish consisting of a chicken which has been cooked with an open can of beer wedged inside the cavity
Read More‘drunk as a pissant’: meaning and origin
extremely drunk—Australia, 1892, as ‘drunk as an ant’—USA, 1925, as ‘drunk as a pissant’ in Manhattan Transfer, by John Dos Passos
Read More‘tarpaulin muster’: meaning and origin
the collecting of a pool of money, to be used either to provide assistance to some (other) person(s) or cause, or to buy drinks for the contributors—USA, 1863—nautical origin: such funds were originally collected by having the ship’s crew drop their money onto a tarpaulin
Read More‘green cart’: meaning and early occurrences
the imaginary vehicle supposed to take people to the mental asylum—Australia (1869), New Zealand (1884)—the reason the colour green was chosen is unknown
Read More‘to do a perish(er)’: meaning and origin
to reach, or to be in, a state of extreme privation; to suffer hardship; to die, especially of thirst—New Zealand (miners, 1871) & Australia (1881)
Read More‘Aqua Libra’: meaning and origin
proprietary name for a soft drink supposed to maintain or restore the body’s alkaline balance—Ireland & UK, 1986—from the Latin nouns ‘aqua’ (water) and ‘libra’ (a balance)
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