I Got To 55 Without Knowing This

[poliphilo]

Here's some English drinking lore.

Can you see the difference between these two glasses?

No, neither could I.

But the one on the left has a bit of a shoulder to it , which makes it a "gentleman's glass", whereas the other has a smoother contour, which makes it a "lady's glass".

Ailz (who used to be a pub landlady) pointed this out in the nick of time and saved me from committing a terrible social blunder.

 

Comments

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Gosh. I could see the difference, but had no idea it had any significance! Luckily, I don't drink pints anyway, so have passed a life so far blissfully free of involuntary breaches of gender boundaries.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't often drink pints either.

This was a brew called Black Sheep- and very nice it was too.

[cosmolinguist]

No wonder I like the smooth ones better! I think they look nicer I almost always get the bumpy ones, though.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'd never even noticed there were two styles.

[cosmolinguist]

I noticed the difference but I had no idea it meant anything. I'm glad you told us.

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

Me, I'm much more interested in that lovely plate of food behind the pint glasses, since I don't drink pints anyway.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Fish and chips.

Very good too!

[ex-kalymura481.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I didn't know that either. Interesting, & bound to come up in the pub quiz sooner or later too :) Thanks.

Also, what are the black beads in the tall glass diagonally behind the gentleman's pint? They look too intriguing to ignore.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ah yes.

That's the pepper mill.

[ex-kalymura481.livejournal.com]

Silly me! Of course it's obvious, now that I know I'm looking at a much larger object.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

And what you can see is only half of it. The top end was the salt shaker.

[methodius.livejournal.com]

And when you said that the one on the left was a gentleman's glass, I expected that you were going to tell us that the one on the right was a yobbo's glass.

Do I have a warped mind, or what?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think yobbos are supposd to drink out of the thick, dimply ones with handles.

[methodius.livejournal.com]

I suppose you have to work in a pub to learn these things.

But next time I'm in an English pub, at least I'll know what they think of me.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

That looks like a good ale....maybe I'll go to the microbrewery for supper...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've gotten out of the habit of drinking beer. this was a reminder of just how good it can be.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that about Ailz! Cool.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

She did it for about 2 years and hated it.

[ibid.livejournal.com]

I can sympathise!

I never knew that about glasses. but unless you're in a gay bar surely you should drink with the glass of the opposite sex (says Ibid the anthropomorphasist)

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

I see the difference, but I certainly couldn't have discerned their genders.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It seems a little arbitrary, to me. I think you could make just as good a case for giving the shouldered one to the ladies.

[red-girl-42.livejournal.com]

Wow. Who knew pint glasses had gender? Thanks for sharing that little tidbit with us. I wonder if *anyone* on this side of the pond knows that. I will have to show off next time I'm out drinking. :-)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Weird, isn't it? It makes me wonder what other secret, social taboos I'm in danger of violating.

[red-girl-42.livejournal.com]

Heck, I'm usually violating the widely-known taboos. I can't worry too much about the secret ones.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

She didn't enjoy it. She did it for about two years in the mid 80s.

[seaslug-of-doom.livejournal.com]

Great Scott! I shall have to be more careful.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Who would have guessed that there were so many social pitfalls associated with going out for a quiet drink?

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

I thought the difference was that ladies don't drink pints? No, seriously: well into the 80s, the Market Tavern refused to serve women pints, though you could have two halves if you insisted - which makes it embarrassing that I tend to drink halves (because the quantity suits me, and my hands are a bit small for pint glasses).

You do know why it's Black Sheep, do you? It's either a lovely story or a very clever piece of marketing (or both!).

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

No, I didn't know the story. how inspiring. I shall now insist on quaffing Black Sheep as a matter of principle.

[red-girl-42.livejournal.com]

Thank God no one considers me to be a lady!