As early as World War II, the retorts How about an egg in your beer? and What do you want, egg in your beer? have served as sarcastic retorts to people who complain about even the smallest of difficulties or hardships. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “What Do You Want, an Egg in Your Beer?”
Hi there, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, my name is Evelyn. I am calling from Twin Hills, Alaska.
What’s going on, Evelyn? What would you like to talk with us about?
Well, I remember hearing as growing up an expression, would you like an egg in your beer? And I use it when somebody is acting like they’re a little bit discontented, like things aren’t going their way, and they want this and that and the other. Somebody who is listening would say, well, how about an egg in your beer, too?
So let’s just make up a scenario. They picture this. Oh, so you’ve served them a meal, you’ve given them biscuits, you’ve given them bacon, you’ve given them eggs, and they still seem unhappy, and you’re like, what do you want, an egg in your beer, too? Something like that.
Exactly.
Yeah, something like that. Or if they’re just having kind of a rough day and they want things to go their way and they want the bus to be on time or they want, you know, they didn’t want their suitcase to be lost by the airlines. And somebody would say, well, how about an egg in your beer, too?
Gotcha. Yeah, that makes sense. This one goes back quite a ways. You know, there used to be a thing to serve eggs in beer.
Ew.
Yeah.
Yeah, okay. Apparently, it was the custom. Some people might have thought it was a little bit of an aphrodisiac. Some people just might have liked the taste or just thought of it as a meal.
Okay. Justify it that way. You paid a little extra for the privilege, although some establishments might throw it in for free. The earliest use that I know is from 1933, but they really caught on during World War II. And exactly the way that you’re saying it’s a little bit like we might say today, not quite the same, but what do you want, a cookie? So there’s a little bit of an edge to it.
Sometimes it’s sarcastic or, is that all your highness? What else do you want? Or you’re never happy. It’s kind of one way of saying you’re never happy. It’s never really kind, I should say. It’s almost always just kind of shut your yap. It is what it is. Let’s move forward. Quit your complaining. Just deal with this, right? Usually that’s how it is.
In an old newspaper, there was one exchange. Actually, this is the earliest use that I know of. There’s two fans who are kind of talking after leaving the polo grounds in Brooklyn after the Giants beat the Dodgers. Of course, neither of those teams are still in Brooklyn. And one fan talking about the Giants’ second baseman, Burgess Whitey Whitehead, says, too bad he can’t hit. Now, remember, the Giants have just beat the Dodgers. The other fan says, kind of with the typical Brooklyn sarcasm, what do you want, an egg in your beer? Because this guy is complaining, even though the Giants still beat them. He wants more. He wants the second baseman to still be good at hitting.
So it’s very much the thing. I want everything. I want the cherry on top as well as the delicious cake, you know.
Oh, okay. Yeah, really caught on during World War II. You’ll often find it mentioned in fiction works where people are trying to get this kind of the true nature of the way that soldiers talked during World War II. So fiction writers will kind of capture some of the way that they spoke or the way that they wrote their letters back by using phrases like that.
So a little extra protein, but…
Yeah.
What do you want? Are you having your beer? Well, somebody suggested to me, I think my husband suggested, maybe it was kind of a really extra special hair of the dog, if you had had too much to drink the night before. And so, as you say, sort of like breakfast, maybe.
Yeah. I have seen that on some television shows where, like, the next morning somebody will crack an egg in their beer, maybe even in a Sylvester Stallone movie where he does that with a little Tabasco. I think it was Rocky. He put about five eggs or something.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, I’m not sure there was beer in there. I think it was just a glass of eggs.
I think you’re right.
Yeah, maybe that’s what I’m thinking of. Anyway, thank you for your call, Evelyn. We really appreciate it. Bye. Have a good day.
World War II was just this storm of language. All these soldiers coming together, bringing language from all quarters of the world. All the English speakers from all the English-speaking countries getting together, mixing together. And the best phrases won and spread to all the other languages. And they took them back home. And language flourished.
Yeah.
