I love passing little bars and restaurants that proudly proclaim "Cocktails" on the outside. There's just something about the word "cocktail" that conjures up Nick and Nora Charles or the Algonquin Roundtable group.
"Let's go for a cocktail" sounds so much more alluring and upscale than "Let's go for a drink," which sounds like you just want to get drunk and throw up on a sawdust floor. A cocktail requires a little black dress and sling-backs. A drink? Running shorts, a sleeveless t-shirt and a mullet.But where on earth did the term "cocktail" - as a description for a mixed beverage - originate? Everything I've found out so far seems pretty weak and usually ends with "but no one's really sure." Enlighten me, someone. Where do you think the term "cocktail" came from?
And let's go for cocktails later, darling.
3 comments:
Hetre you go......
Cocktail
First attested 1806; H.L. Mencken lists seven versions of its origin, perhaps the most persuasive is Fr. coquetier "egg-cup." In New Orleans, c.1795, Antoine Amédée Peychaud, an apothecary (and inventor of Peychaud bitters) held Masonic social gatherings at his pharmacy, where he mixed brandy toddies with his own bitters and served them in an egg-cup. The drink took the name of the cup, in Eng. cocktay. Cocktail party first attested 1928.
Thanks, Johnno! Still, it does seem to have a sort of blurry beginning. I'm not going to look a gift-horse in the mouth, though -
Keep up the good work » » »
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