He was a drunk driver, a brown liquor drinker, a raunchy song-singer, a loud braggart. In short, he was a classic boor, and we dreaded him.
Brown liquor–drinking is a sign of boorishness?
I wondered at that too. Maybe it's indicative within a certain context, so that among cops, plumbers, etc., a brown liquor drinker is usually a certain type?
No, of course not. Sorry if it seemed that way. Although I have to say, when I was tending bar, I did have quite a few patrons that got amiable buzzes with beer and wine, but put a few shots of Jack in them and they were leaping across the bar to kick someone's ass. I have no idea why this is true. Some people hold brown liquor just fine. Leo didn't. Obviously.
Thanks for the link. Glad you liked the story, aside from the maligning of brown liquor.
This reminds me, I was wondering lately if there has been any scientific work on the different kinds of drunk one enjoys under different forms of alcohol. And, does this have something to do with why wine lacks much of the stigma of other alcohols?
I've wondered about that myself. Maybe allergies have something to do with. When you get drunk, you're giving yourself alcohol poisoning, to various degrees depending on how much you drink. I wonder if the different ingredients in different alcoholic beverages lead to different behaviors. I know the tannin in red wine causes allergic reactions, headaches and such. Budweiser makes my husband sinus congestion, but he's fine with Guinness. Or maybe it's all psychosomatic.
I wish we had editing capabilities in Comments sections. That was a horribly disjointed comment. I'm sorry.
there is supposedly some ingredient in jagermeister that makes one aggressive, or at least boisterous.
I think wine has just enough alcohol to yield a buzz easily, but not so much to push you right over the edge into true drunkenness.
There's this, which seems quackishly plausible.
8.
Same is true for beer for many people.
Brown liquors, red wine and dark beers contain varying cocktails of congeners, those non-ethyl alcohols that contribute to the nastiness of your hangover. They're present in tiny amounts, but given that some people react badly to even the tiny amount of methanol produced by metabolizing nutrasweet, maybe it's enough to have an effect on behavior. They're all solvents, I guess, but I think some intoxicating solvents are more likely to prompt aggressive behavior than others (e.g. model airplane glue).
Early on in Dharma bums, Kerouac recounts the characteristics of different kinds of drunks. Whisky drunks, vodka drunks. The worst of all, he said, were the wine drunks.
I think alcohol is alcohol and the different reactions depend on social triggers. If you pound miller high life in a frat basement it will lead to a different experience (OK, I think that's revulsion for most unfogged readers) than quaffing wine at a great restaurant.
I don't know, cw, I myself feel different depending on the source of my inebriation. But, perhaps we don't need to look past the macho culture of beer. Perhaps wine was the only alocholic drink women were allowed to indluge in? And I suppose it's status as the WWJD(rink) beverage of choice doesn't hurt.
For liquor, how much of what survives the distillation process has an effect on your behavior? Or how much of what's picked up in the aging or flavoring process. Those could conceivably affect the experience of being drunk depending on what you drink.
I have personally never noticed much difference, but I also rarely drink very much at a time.
Budweiser makes my husband sinus congestion, but he's fine with Guinness. Or maybe it's all psychosomatic.
What happens if he drinks Pabst? Expression of blood directly from his nipples?
Couldn't you have sacrificed honesty for rhyme and written, "sippin' bourbon"?
"w-lfs-n" and "bourbon" don't rhyme.
Quick, someone invent boulfson.
"What happens if he drinks Pabst? Expression of blood directly from his nipples?"
My God, it's like you've got a hidden camera set up in our bedroom.
someone invent boulfson
Tip to inventor: requires lots of beans.
The distinction between bourbon and boulfson is twofold: first, bourbon comes from Kentucky; second, boulfson is mellowed in a vat of baked beans before being aged a minimum of two years.
Stop oppressing me with your narrow bourgeois notions of rhyme, Ben. Moreover, w-lfs-n Bourbon makes a great product name.
I have no idea where you could procure that product, or someone willing to simulate its effects.
I once tried some mustard out of a spun aluminum cannister with a death's head on it. Now why did I think that was a good idea?
"I think wine has just enough alcohol to yield a buzz easily, but not so much to push you right over the edge into true drunkenness."
Hence the term "wino" -- someone who drinks only wine, and is thus not looked down upon.
Kerouac was a sloppy wine drunk.
When my son was in HS I taught him the basic rules of moderate, problem-free drinking. (A felony, I know. Contributing.) But he said that when he went to college, in order to be one of the guys he had to learn stupid drinking.
I'm skeptical of the people claiming a reaction to nutrasweet. I'd sure like to see a double-blind study on that.
Two things I learned in England are to beware of a beer called "Elephant" ans a cider called "Copperhead."
I think maybe hard shots hit pretty hard and skip the warm fuzzy stage and put one right into the kick-ass stage, but it won't last long unless one keeps drinking some.
I would claim to have a reaction to nutrasweet. But I haven't double-blinded it.
Hey Weiner, didja hear about this?
That reminds me--I need to call the real-estate agent.
Matt,
Double blind would be interesting. I'm not saying this pertains to you, but I know some of the "Multiple Chemical Sensitivity" sufferers show the same symptoms whether they are exposed to pure water or a supposed allergen.
Luckily they have places like HealthMedDetox to turn to. "This is a regimen of exercise, nutrition, and sauna which has sucessfully treated the chemically sensitive by reducing the body burden of fat stored chemicals."
Come to think of it, that sounds an awful lot like the Scientology detox. Hmmmm.
Actually, I meant that it makes me spit it out cause it tastes nasty. I could of probably come up with a better link.
it tastes nasty.
Ahhh. I presume you were not weaned on saccharine as I was. Farewell, Tab, I knew thee well.
Why, the merest hint, the tiniest taste of saccharine would make you convinced that aspartame was as tasty as a freshly picked orange, as nourishing as mother's milk, and as refreshing as something that really refreshes you.
Oh, and avoid that healthymed place. Bless their heart, they really are a front for scientology!
