Scattered Thoughts Jan. 2021

 

I sometimes discover interesting things when I’m reading. Phrases that I’m not familiar with, items mentioned that I’m not familiar with, that sort of thing. Especially when reading an older book that takes place in England. If I can’t find the answers to my questions, I consult with my Brit penpal Carol. Sometimes it’s just a case of a “British” word versus an “American” word.

 

Being sent to Coventry. It means to be ostracized. Ignored. Couldn’t find a real reason for using the name Coventry. It seems to be quite a nice city in the West Midlands of England.

 

Charged Water. This came from a book where the gentleman mixed himself a drink consisting of whiskey and charged water. And of course, charged water was SO much better than just regular water. IT’S SELTZER. That’s all….

 

Needled Beer. This came from stories by Damon Runyan, who was one of my Dad’s favorites. Runyan’s stories were used as the basis for the musical Guys And Dolls. Lots of stories about Prohibition, bootlegging and whatnot. LOTS of whatnot…

It talked a lot about “needled beer” and I had no idea what that was. I asked my Dad and he professed not to know. Since I now know a lot more about his past, I’m sure he knew exactly what it was and was probably mixed up in making it and/or bootlegging it.

During Prohibition, near beer was legal. True beer was not.

Originally, "near beer" was a term for malt beverages containing little or no alcohol (less than .5 %) which were mass-marketed during Prohibition in the United States. Near beer could not legally be labeled as "beer" and was officially classified as a “cereal beverage.”

The public, however, almost universally called it "near beer.”

A popular illegal practice was to add alcohol to near beer. The resulting beverage was known as spiked beer or needle beer, so called because a needle was used to inject alcohol through the cork of the bottle or keg.

 

Stage Names

Gavin MacLeod of The Love Boat was born Allen See. His stage name was a combination of the first name of a fictional character he admired and the last name of a teacher who influenced him.

With these parameters, mine would be Tuppence Vanderley. Tuppence from the Tommy and Tuppence books by Agatha Christie and Vanderley from my beloved first grade teacher Norma Vanderley.

What’s your alternate name?