whistler

From Middle English whisteler, whistlar, whystelare, from Old English hwistlere (“a player on a flute; a piper”), equivalent to whistle + -er.

inh

Any of several passerine birds of the genera Pachycephala and Coracornis, of Australasia and the western Pacific.

A goldeneye (any of certain ducks of genus Bucephala).

(slang, obsolete) The keeper of a whistling shop, or shebeen.


pub

→ Dutch: pub

→ Estonian: pubi

→ Finnish: pub, pubi

→ French: pub

→ German: Pub

→ Greek: παμπ (pamp)

→ Hindi: पब (pab)

→ Icelandic: pöbb

→ Italian: pub

→ Japanese: パブ (pabu)

→ Korean: 퍼브 (peobeu)

→ Norwegian: pub

→ Polish: pub

→ Russian: паб (pab)

→ Mongolian: паб (pab)

→ Spanish: pub

→ Swedish: pub

→ Thai: ผับ (pàp)

Reg liked a chat about old times and we used to go and have a chinwag in the pub.

1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.

2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A public house where beverages, primarily alcoholic, may be bought and consumed, also providing food and sometimes entertainment such as live music or television.


pub

en-verb

pub (third-person singular simple present pubs, present participle pubbing, simple past and past participle pubbed)

pubs (present singular third-person)
pubbing (participle present)
pubbed (participle past)
pubbed (past)

(informal, intransitive) To go to one or more public houses.


pub

Pubs say it's out of print, but it was supposed to have been reissued.

1979 April 14, “Barbara G. (classified advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, page 14:


poteen

en-noun

poteen (countable and uncountable, plural poteens)

From Irish poitín (“little pot; poteen”), from pota (“pot”) (from Middle English potte, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *budn- (“type of vessel”)) + -ín (diminutive suffix).

der

The Irish peasantry practice the distillation of that illicit spirituous liquor, so well known by the name of poteen whiskey, with a most unaccountable infatuation.

1835 September 13, J. L. L., “The Poteen Still. A Tale Founded on Fact.”, in Philip Dixon Hardy, editor, The Dublin Penny Journal, volume III, number 115, Dublin: Printed and published by P. D. Hardy, 3, Cecilia Street, →OCLC, page 85, column 1:

[A] detachment, consisting of a subaltern’s party, was on its road to Head Quarters, from a still hunting in the mountains, or hostile excursion after contrabandists, or distillers of that delicious fluid, Potheen whiskey, […] It is related that when he [George IV of the United Kingdom] had drained the first glass that was presented to him, he declared that he could now understand why the Irish peasantry were willing to risk life and liberty in its illegal production—it was the real elixir vitæ—the only stuff fit to fuddle a prince with—royal in its flavor, royal in its odor, and super-royal in its effects! That Poteen!

1843 May 6, “a New Orleans Irishman”, “An Irish Race Course”, in Brother Jonathan, volume V, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Wilson & Company, publishers; office 162 Nassau Street, →OCLC, page 26, column 1:

Last night he had put down too much Potheen / (A vulgar blend of Methyl and Benzene) / That, at some Wake, he might the better keen. / (Keen—meaning ‘brisk’? Nay, here the Language warps: / ’Tis singing bawdy Ballads to a Corpse.)

20th century, Stuart Howard-Jones (1904–1974), “Hibernia”, in Kingsley Amis, comp., The New Oxford Book of English Light Verse, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1978, page 243

“Make haste now and go up and tell your mother to hide the poteen”—his mother used to sell poteen—“for I’m after seeing the biggest party of peelers and yeomanry passing by on the rocks was ever seen on the island.”

1907, J[ohn] M[illington] Synge, “Part IV”, in The Aran Islands, Dublin: Maunsel & Co., Ltd; London: Elkin Mathews, →OCLC, page 152:

Past the split tree three-quarters of the way in, where a man has tucked a small bottle of Rot under the bark for his workmate to collect as he passes. Such narcotics and poteens are illegal in the encampment, and cannot be risked passing within the huts.

2002, Sarah Hall, Haweswater, London: Faber and Faber, →ISBN; paperback edition, London: Faber and Faber, 2003, →ISBN, page 240:

He began to rove the country at night, trudging out to shebeens or crossroads dances, to the ceilidhs and poteen sessions that sometimes followed Fair Days in the small towns of Connemara.

2002, Joseph O'Connor, “The Ballad-maker”, in Star of the Sea: Farewell to Old Ireland, London: Secker & Warburg, →ISBN; Star of the Sea (Harvest Book), 1st U.S. edition, Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt, 2003, →ISBN, page 88:

(Ireland, countable, uncountable) Illegally produced Irish whiskey; moonshine.

Kildrumferton … Pop. 9,687 […] There are nine licensed public houses; poteens many more. Illicit distillation prevails to a very great extent, the district being rarely visited by the revenue police, not indeed for years past; the presence of the excise officer in a neighbouring town is the only check.

1836, “Supplement to Appendix (E.): Answers to Questions Circulated by the Commissioners Relative to the Condition of Agricultural Labourers in Ireland”, in Poor Inquiry (Ireland). Appendix (E.) Containing Baronial Examinations Relative to Food, Cottages and Cabins, Clothing and Furniture, Pawnbroking and Savings’ Banks, Drinking; and Supplement, Containing Answers to Questions 13 to 22 Circulated by the Commissioners. Presented to Both Houses of Parliament by Command of His Majesty (Reports from Commissioners: Fifteen Volumes; 11 (Poor Laws (Ireland): Appendix (E.): Session 4 February – 20 August 1836)), volume XXXII, London: Printed by W[illiam] Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street, for His Majesty’s Stationery Office, →OCLC, ULSTER—County Cavan—Baronies Castleraghan, Loughtee Upper [table], page 294:

The whisky shops and poteens of Scotland and Ireland, the gin-palaces and beer-shops of England, are an incubus that is dwarfing the good in every section of the community, and forcing out the evil.

[1875], M[ary] A[nna] Paull, “The Tenpenny Nail”, in St. Mungo’s Curse; or, The Crippled Singer of the Saltmarket, Manchester: Tubbs and Brook, 11, Market Street; London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co.; F. Pitman, →OCLC, page 11:

(Ireland, countable, by extension) An unlicensed drinking establishment selling illegally produced Irish whiskey.


shebeen

→ Afrikaans: sjebeen

→ Xhosa: ishibhini

‘Well, let's line,’ he said to Ben. ‘We can fill up at a shebeen.’

1979, André Brink, A Dry White Season, Vintage, published 1998, page 178:

On almost every corner there were shebeens, illegal saloons that were shacks where home-brewed beer was served.

1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 88:

[…]while across Ladbroke Grove, on the mainly black side, the Rio cafe into which I self-consciously tiptoed occasionally became the Mangrove restaurant, and All Saints Road the shebeen and dope-dealing capital of London, under the hammer of the police.

2007 April 14, Ed Vulliamy, “Absolute MacInnes”, in The Guardian:

Every night and day there were bombs and gunshots and riots and roundups, and it didn't take long to gain access to the bars and shebeens where these things were discussed with a certain knowingness.

2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 146:

An unlicensed drinking establishment, especially in Ireland, Scotland, and South Africa.


speakeasy

en-noun

speakeasy (plural speakeasies or speakeasys)

speakeasies (plural)
speakeasys (plural)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-speakeasy.wav

Deverbal from speak easy (= speak quietly [interj.]); for the history, see Wikipedia at speakeasy § Etymology.

Many of the legitimate nightclubs of today sprang like legalized phoenixes from the still-hot ashes of the speakeasies of prohibition days.

1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 90:

Retuning^([sic]) to Gotham, he came to intimately know Manhattan's speakeasy scene. “At a speakeasy,” Hirschfeld acknowledged, “you had to be known to get in...each place had its own clientele.” Membership cards, really fake IDs, were common.

2020, David Rosen, Prohibition New York City, Arcadia Publishing, →ISBN, page 39:

(historical) An illegal saloon or tavern, especially one operated during the American Prohibition period in the 1920s.

контрабандна кръчма

illegal saloon operated during the Prohibition period


beer parlor

Observational study of alcohol consumption in natural settings: The Vancouver beer parlor.

1994, Clement Vonnie V, Research and Intervention: Preventing Substance Abuse in Higher Education:

You go to the beer parlor, you know everybody.

1998, Antonio Azuela, Emilio Duhau, Evictions and the Right to Housing:

At UBC Canada, the student center also houses an auditorium and a beer parlor for students called the Pit, as well as a bowling alley on the lower ground floor.

2006, Ashok Malhotra, Fundamentals of Excellence in Technical and other Universities:

(chiefly Canada, US) Alternative spelling of beer parlour


beer parlour

(Canada) A bar, selling beer, that has tables where customers may congregate socially.


strip club

An establishment offering striptease or other erotic dancing.


blind pig

Then the harpooner carried away a pink flask to be filled in some blind pig, for there were no licensed saloons in that locality. We drank the cheap rotgut out of tumblers.

1913 August, Jack London, chapter VI, in John Barleycorn, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 48:

This was […] the woman whose every look and movement stirred him in a way he couldn't describe (but had tried to, time and again, to his classmates, to the rare Barnard girl he asked to the theater or a concert, and to the tarts and working girls he discovered in the blind pigs and outside the vaudeville houses).

1993, TC Boyle, The Road to Wellville, Penguin, published 1994, page 29:

According to a Rutgers University Web site dedicated to the riots, “The Detroit Riot of 1967 began when police vice squad officers executed a raid on an after hours drinking club or 'blind pig' in a predominantly black neighborhoods located at Twelfth Street and Clairmount Avenue […]

2012, Jeremy Williams, Detroit: The Black Bottom Community:


alehouse

From Middle English alehous, alehuse from Old English ealuhūs. By surface analysis, ale + house.

Find him in a pulpit but twiſe in the yeare,
And Ile find him fortie times in the ale-houſe taſting ſtrong beare.

1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act I:

But go to—carry thy roisterers elsewhere—to the alehouse if they list, and there are crowns to pay your charges—make out the day’s madness without doing more mischief, and be wise men to-morrow—and hereafter learn to serve a good cause better than by acting like ruffians.

1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XV, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 326:

Mention has been already made more than once, of a certain Dragon who swung and creaked complainingly before the village ale-house door.

1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, chapter 3, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC, page 19:

A business, such as an inn or tavern, where ale is sold.


gay bar

Hey, but wait a minute, man, that's a gay bar

1975, “Ain't Nobody Straight in L.A.”, in City of Angels, performed by The Miracles:

One unidentified man spoke of how he was approached to "go to the Gents" with an MP at an event for young political activists while another man described how an MP invited his entire office staff to a gay bar.

2014 April 11, Charlotte Meredith, “The Palace of Sexminster”, in Huffington Post: United Kingdom:

A tavern or similar nightclub whose primary clientele are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

同性戀酒吧

nightclub whose primary clientele are LGBT people


cider house

(West of England) A public house that sells a selection of draught ciders rather than beer.


wine bar

A drinking establishment where only wine is served.


izakaya

izakaya (countable and uncountable, plural izakaya or izakayas)

Borrowed from Japanese 居(い)酒(ざか)屋(や) (izakaya).

The sprawling multipage menu offers cleanly executed dishes meant to accompany the sake, including standards like boiled edamame, and the filling rice balls called onigiri that you would expect at any izakaya, or Japanese pub.

2007 January 28, “Island Within an Island”, in New York Times:


cocktailery

Two years ago, in this space, I noted the burst in creative attention being paid to tequila, and cited for particular praise a young bartender named Philip Ward, at the East Village cocktailery Death & Company.

2009 July 19, Jonathan Miles, “Tequila, From the Pews”, in New York Times:

(rare) A bar where cocktails are served.


cocktail bar

A drinking establishment that specializes in cocktails.


karaoke bar

A bar where members of the public perform songs using a microphone.


lup sup bar

/ˈlʌp ˈsʌp ˈbɑː/

From Cantonese 垃圾 (laap6 saap3) + bar (“rubbish; garbage”).

af

2005 December 12, Master Cartwheeler, 7 years later.., blog entry
All that is lacking is some mamasans walking in with some bar girls holding XO bottles in their hands (would like to clarify that I've never been to a lup sup bar.. but i think this is how it looks like, right?) http://sevenyrslater.blogspot.sg/2005/12/first-time-at-lup-sup-bar-oops-i-mean.html

2013 February 17, unnamed, Singapore Exposed: Singapore Sleaze - Da Lu Music Lounge , blog entry
Locals will normally refer to this place as a "Lup Sup Bar", meaning a bar that provides sexual services. While the bar is a legal business entity, the sexual services that are offered are under table and illegal http://www.sgexposed.com/2013/02/singapore-sleaze-da-lu-music-lounge.html

2014 June 5, The Guru, The Guru Project, blog entry
7 in 10 guys* these days are familiar with the term “LapSap Bars”. It refers to establishments where girls from neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Philippines masquerade as hostess. https://theguruproject.wordpress.com/2014/06/05/fw1sp0/

2014 November 2013, CowBoy Johnny, Redwire Times: REVEALED: What Goes on in Singapore’s Seedy KTV Bars, An Ex-Bouncer and Lup Sup Bar Hopper Talk to Redw, online
Redwire spoke to one bar-hopper who used to frequent lup sup bars in Duxton when, in his words, it was still an area known for cheap pinoy prostitutes, Chinese pei jiu mei (drinking kaki girls) and high-class ang moh callgirl https://web.archive.org/web/20160727232011/http://redwiretimes.com/cow-beh-cow-bu/revealed-goes-singapores-seedy-ktv-bars-ex-bouncer-lup-sup-bar-hopper-talk-redwire/

(Singapore) A seedy bar found in Singapore that offers prostitution.


kiddlywink

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-kiddlywink.wav

Possibly related to tiddlywink or kiddywink.

"And we have a notion how much he had to drink in the kiddlywink."

1974, Marjorie Watson, Heir to Polventon, →ISBN:

1980, John Hugh Norton Mason, West country walks and legends, Academy Chicago Pub
Bessie's Cove was said to be named after a Bessie Burrows who kept a small 'kiddlywink' inn on the cliff-top.

There's a kiddlywink there where my crew and l have spent many a happy hour.”

2011, Patricia Gaffney, Lily, Open Road Media, →ISBN:

(Cornwall, historical) A small pub only licensed to sell beer or cider.


siam diu

From Siam (“historical name of Thailand”) and Cantonese 吊 (diu3, “to hang”), referring to the flower garlands.

So first time when i met her, i spend 180 hanging flowers and buying shots for her. / Everyday^([sic]) i just feel like seeing her, / So went to that particular siam tiu just to see her. / Flowers, shots to impress her, / But she refused to have further relationship other than customer and siam bu.

2014 April 7, rachelmon, “falling in love with a siam bu, no money”, in Sam’s Forum, retrieved 2017-11-04:

Siam Bu exclusively refers to girls working in Siam Tiu, not referring to all Thai girls.

2014 April 15, Steph Leong, “How Not To Treat A Girl”, in MIANBAOBREADPAN, WordPress, retrieved 2017-11-02:

There's a DJ and an emcee, just like zouk except there were table everywhere so it's like a club/siam diu(Thai Disco).

2015 April 6, Jaslyn Wong, “Let's Run Away to the Land of Smiles”, in JSLYNWNGX, Blogger, retrieved 2017-11-02:

We have these clubs colloquially called "siam diu" loosely translated as a sort of disco where the girls there are basically there to accompany/drink/play games/entertain the customers at their tables/sofas. And in-exchange you have to tip them via "flowers" or "banners" starting from $50 being hung around their heads when they perform on stage, be it dancing or singing. They are mostly from Thailand, China or Vietnam. More exotic ones would be Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea.

2015 August 29, The Dream Factory, “[FR] Hot Korean girls, Language barrier, and Cock blocks”, in Reddit, r/seduction, retrieved 2017-11-04:

It’s the place to be if you’re looking to impress that Thai Girl you picked up at the siam diu bar.

2015 October 26, Nicholas Chen, “10 Affordable Thai Food Places in Singapore that Taste Like Bangkok [Affordable Thai Food in Singapore]”, in Eatbook Singapore (blog), Singapore: Eatbook, retrieved 2017-11-04:

Tonight, my agenda was simple: To experience first-hand the “siam tiu” culture so loved by many party-goers. Thai clubs and discos, often referred to as “siam tiu”, isn’t exactly a world apart from the other drinking holes one might be familiar with. To put things in perspective, these “siam tius” combine the casual drinking vibes of a bar with the singers and hostesses of a KTV pub.

2017 May 14, Samantha Francis, “Curious Thoughts From My First Visit To A Thai Disco Aka “Siam Tiu” [Uncovering a bustling secret world where affection is traded for flower garlands]”, in Weekender Singapore (blog), Singapore: Weekender Singapore, archived from the original on 2017-09-29:

Similar to Thai discos – better known as siam dius – these flower joints are mainly entertainment venues that open through the night on most days of the week, not just the weekends. While hostesses at Thai discos are mainly of Thai origin, those working at flower joints come from a variety of countries such as Taiwan, China and Korea.

2017 May 14, Audrey Kang, “Singapore's 'flower joints': Where men buy sashes, garlands in return for ‘love’”, in Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore (blog), Singapore: Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore, retrieved 2017-11-02:

Tucked in the basement of the building is Diva Disco, a siam diu or Thai disco, where the majority of the patrons are Singaporeans. Singers entertain patrons with song and dance, sometimes in the form of a variety performance.

2017 June 22, Aaron Chan, “Singapore Talking: Thriving Thai-speaking community”, in The Straits Times, Singapore: The Straits Times:

When we think of Thai discos or siam dius, we associate it with blaring EDM music, flower garlands and scantily-clad women playing drinking games with men over towers of beer.

2017 August 17, Cheryl Chiew, “Why Some Singaporean Men Date Thai Disco Girls Instead Of Local Girls”, in ZULA (blog), Singapore: ZULA, retrieved 2017-11-02:

But in the murky underground of Singapore’s Thai disco (siam dius) scene, the generalisation of Thai disco girls (siam bus) often carries a certain stigma.

2017 August 18, Cheryl Chiew, “Singaporean Girls Speak Their Minds About Local Men Who Date Thai Disco Girls”, in ZULA (blog), Singapore: ZULA, retrieved 2017-11-02:

(Singapore) A Thai-themed nightclub or disco at which people dance to music and pay a hostess to talk to or drink with them by buying her a flower garland.


kafunda

Early discussions around a bottle of beer in the best of Kampala's kafundas of the time?

2004, 1994-2004, Reflects On--: Ten Years of Participatory Practice for a Fairer Society, page 4:

Today one can walk in a shop, kafunda or super market and does not have to line up for basic requirement like sugar, salt and soap as a result of the privatisation and reform policy.

2005, Divest: A Publication of Privatisation Unit, volume 1, number 1:

In those days, you either went for the bottle under the bed - the equivalent of today's 24-hour open Kafundas - or you went to a night club.

2009, Patricia Haward, Looking Back: Personal memories of Uganda's troubled past, 1970-2000:

On the other hand, one might find a group of generals at a particular small kafunda (bar) on the street.

2014, Ian Clarke, Uganda - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture:

It is common to find women selling molokoni in kafunda joints that abound Kampala.

2018 September 2, A. Kadumukasa Kironde II, “Molokoni: Prized Ugandan dish”, in Daily Monitor:

(Uganda) A bar (business that sells alcohol).


barcade

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-barcade.wav

Blend of bar + arcade. A chain of arcade bars by this name first opened in Brooklyn in 2004.

Glen “Hooping Cough” Hodges is proprietor and manager of Nine Chakras, the new retro gaming barcade in town.

2019, Darren Johnson, Darren Johnson's Best Short Stories of 2018:

For a good time in the evening, hit up a barcade, a nightspot that's puntastically exactly what it sounds like — a bar with a ton of old-school coin-operated pinball and arcade cabinets (I'd bet my quarters there's one near you).

2020, Sam Maggs, The Fangirl's Guide to the Universe: A Handbook for Girl Geeks, page 42:

Gaming itself becomes a destination event, taking place at barcades and board game cafes.

2020, Terri Toles Patkin, Matthew Wilhelm Kapell, Who's in the Game?, page 27:

A bar (drinking establishment) equipped with video arcade games.


beer cellar

An underground bar, typically in German-speaking countries, that specialises in beers.


tachinomiya

en-noun

tachinomiya (plural tachinomiyas or tachinomiya)

tachinomiyas (plural)
tachinomiya (plural)

A Japanese bar at which patrons stand rather than sit down.


peeler bar

Synonym of bark spud (implement used to remove bark from felled timber)


dry bar

Beer has accounted for most of the sales in the nonalcoholic category[…]. Nonalcoholic cocktails followed, with some of the nation’s foremost mixologist jumping on the bandwagon and “dry bars” popping up in night-life hot spots.

2023 March 24, Laura Reiley, “Could nonalcoholic wine be the toast of the town?”, in The Washington Post:

A bar that does not serve alcoholic beverages.