wife beater

wife beater
 n.Gloss: in the United Kingdom, a strong alcoholic drink, so-called because it may encourage fighting. Often specifically applied to the beer brand Stella Artois. Note: This is obviously a different use of the term than the one that refers to the sleeveless men’s undershirt made of ribbed cotton. «The drink, which at 5.2 per cent alcohol is stronger than many other lagers and therefore makes people drunker and sometimes more aggressive more quickly, has acquired the unflattering soubriquet of “wife beater.” “I first heard someone refer to it as that two or three years ago,” says Zak Avery, a beer trade commentator who owns a specialist off-licence in Headingley near Leeds.» —“Where did it all go wrong for the beer they call ‘wife beater’?” by Victoria Moore Daily Mail (United Kingdom) Nov. 15, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Further reading

Excuse the Hogs (episode #1596)

When a teenager went a week without talking as part of a school project, he noticed a surprising side effect: Instead of rehearsing a response to what other people were saying to him, he was focused on listening — and feeling smarter as a result...

Word Hoard (episode #1593)

Ever wonder what medieval England looked and sounded like? In Old English, the word hord meant “treasure” and your wordhord was the treasure of words locked up inside you. A delightful new book uses the language of that period to create...

Recent posts