Sublime

the proprietor of a mug house or shicker shop, the pub landlord or -lady, is not without his or her own monikers. Among the earliest labels, in the 1500s, were the lick-spigot, ale-draper, and cove-of–the-ken. Today you’re more likely to hear the governor or mine host. In the years in-between, and if you were fond of a tipple, you might have encoun

Another enduring name for the force as a whole is of course the Old Bill, originally a cartoon character of the First World War who was portrayed as a grumbling Cockney soldier with a walrus moustache. The ‘police’ meaning emerged when the character, this time wearing police uniform, appeared in posters during the Second World War giving advice on

muppet: Most Useless Police Person Ever Trained. Generally used affectionately.

In Ontario, Canada, where I grew up, alcohol sales are highly regulated so most beer in the province is purchased from (where else?) The Beer Store, a retail cooperative for breweries. It mostly comes in standardized brown glass bottles. You take a case of beer home, drink the beer, put the empties back in the box, and return them the next time you

The buanderie is a utility room, not to be confused with a bavererie, which would be a place where people drool, a gaffe I made that left an architect wondering if Americans had rooms in their homes devoted to salivating.