Andrew

[John Smith]

Errr... thought I already did

[jayboi2005]

I haven't heard from Andrew for ages, i did wonder where he had gone. Whats wrong with him? I'm taking a guess, Graft?

[Andrew MacLean]

thanks for all the well wishing that has gone on over tha last weeks. It is good to be back.

Two questions:

1 What is Malibu?
2 How many Malibus does it take to get a Sweet Welsh Nurse squiffy?

I only ask because I met a welsh Nurse on the forum who seemed keen to insist that it didn't matter how many Malibus she consumed, she remained entirely in control of her faculties.

[John Smith]

Great to see you back, Andrew. Hope you're feeling a lot better.

Two answers:

1. Malibu is a coconut & rum spirit.
2. There is an answer, but it is a secret. Ssshhhh.

[GarethB]

John is suplementing his income by blackmailing Sweet

[Andrew MacLean]

Rum and coconut. That sounds, well, em, different.

I'm a bit traditional about these things.

Bananas go with ice cream.
Coconut goes into curry

Spirit is an interesting one ..

Anyway, I apologise for being indiscrete. I shall puruse the question no further.

Rum and coconut, you say .. ... .... ..... fades into the distance musing on this strange concoction, and marvelling that anyone should toil to invent such a thing.

[GarethB]

Andrew,

I bet you are off to try Malibu and its vareous mixes just for research purposes

[Andrew MacLean]

Gareth

I have done better than that: I have bought a book!

This offers the potential alchemist with a range of mixtures it calls "cocktails" that hold out the promise of using otherwise undrinkable brews.

I'll let you know if I find in its pages any interesting or diverting concoctions that employ Malibu.

Does anyone know why these alchemic homogenates are called "cocktails"?

edit -- I looked it up! The derivation seems to be equestrian. For obvious reasons, some horses used to have their tails docked. Coach horses, hunters etc would therefore be described as "cock-tail" horses (horses that looked as if they had the tail of a cock).

This notion of hybridation was extended when racehorses with non-thorougbred ancestry were described as having cock-tail forebears. The metaphor was then applied to mixed drinks during the period of prohibition in the United States. Instead of ordering something that was patently against the law, the prohibition busters would order a "cocktail" like "Long Island Iced Tea", so that anyone overhearing would be able to imagine that the transaction did not involve liquor.

[John Smith]

Hi Andrew,

I take it you didn't watch "Balderdash and Piffle" recently - a BBC2 programme attempting to find the derivations of certain words for the OED.

Well, cocktail was one of the words they were looking for. I'm sure your usage (in prohibition) was correct, but not sure about the derivation... even the OED couldn't agree. See http://www.oed.com/bbcwords/cocktail.html

[Andrew MacLean]

John

No I hadn't seen this television programme, but I can quote from the 2006 edition of the OED

ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from cock 1 + tail 1 . The original use was as an adjective describing a creature with a tail like that of a cock, specifically a horse with a docked tail; hence (because hunters and coach horses were generally docked) a racehorse that was not a thoroughbred, having a cock-tailed horse in its pedigree (early 19th cent.). Sense 1 (ie a mixed drink) (originally U.S., also early 19th cent.) is perhaps analogous, from the idea of an adulterated spirit.

I love investigating the origins of words. Of course, the OED next edition may cite a different origin, but that is the fascination of etymology. Also, I do not always agree with the OED's 'earliest use', and often want to argue with their etymology. Again, this is all the fascination of an intriguing hobby.

I hadn't ever wondered until this morning about the origin of the word 'cocktail', I guess I had just taken for granted that the little dish of shrimp in the gloopy mixture of mayonaise and tomato ketchup was called a "prawn cocktail", without ever wondering why.

Thanks for the link to the BBC site. i shall visit there again.

A