Take the Devil Out of It

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Wendy McCarville. I’m calling from San Antonio, Texas.

Welcome. What’s going on, Wendy?

Well, I am calling about an expression that I’ve often used growing up and just seemed very common to me. It is, take the devil out of it. And generally used when you get an adult beverage and you pass it to your friend and ask them to take the first sip to take the devil out of it.

Recently, I used this expression when I was visiting friends in Nashville, and they thought it was very peculiar. They’d never heard it before. So I was just curious. Take the devil out of it. And so it’s just handing a drink to somebody for them to take the very first sip. Is that right?

Yes.

Yes. That’s really interesting. So this is kind of a custom or maybe even a ritual? Is it kind of a superstition?

I think it’s, yeah, kind of a custom ritual rolled together. It was just so common for us. Have you all ever heard this?

No, I haven’t. I didn’t even know, and I wonder if I’m missing something in my reading. I didn’t even know there was a culture surrounding the first sip or drink of something.

No. Maybe there’s this whole category of folklore that I’ve just been missing my whole life.

I know. We’re getting really excited in here. Wendy, you know what? I’m glad that we got you on the air because if this is a San Antonio or Texas thing or there are other parts of the American states or anywhere else in the world where people listen to this show, they’re going to email us and let us know that there’s something that they say when they or a friend takes the first sip of an alcoholic drink.

Yeah, or we’ll hear from people who say, I can’t believe you never heard that expression.

That’s what I’m kind of hoping for.

All right, well, all right, so hang on. What we’re going to do is we’ll put the call out, and then this will all come in probably on a future show. If we get any response at all, we’ll share it out, and we’ll let you and the world know, all right?

Fabulous, yeah.

All right, so if you, listener, can help Wendy, do you say something like to take the devil out of a drink, meaning to take the first sip of a beer or a cocktail? If you do, give us a call, 877-929-9673, or explain an email to words@waywordradio.org, or tell us on Twitter @wayword.

Okay.

We’ll see how it goes.

All right.

Okay. Take care now. Y’all have a great day.

You too.

Thanks, Wendy.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.