More Notes on Booze

First of all, colors. Blue (blau) has a different connotation over here. Should you want to tell German passers-by that you’re feeling blue, they would probably move to the other side of the street and call you a cab. Now it's not because they are uncaring, it's that you just told them that you are drunk-as-a-skunk, schnockered, newcastled, pickled, blitzed, bugalooed, Chevy-Chased, having the whirligigs, five whinos gone, Boris Yelstinned, pissed, or my personal favorite…ten feet tall and bulletproof. In other words: drunk.

Secondly, animals. Should you have actually used ‘blau’ in it’s correct meaning and had a Barley sandwich (beer for lunch,) spent the night with one foot on the floor so the bed would stop spinning (“Make the move stop rooming!”) and perhaps prayed to the porcelain god most of the night—you would wind up the next day with “a boy cat.” Yes folks, the euphemism for a hangover is “ein Karter haben.” English translation: To have a male cat. Actually, this makes sense. After all, when you wake up from those nights of “bad venison,” as my husband says, that taste in your mouth does feel a little furry.

Here’s to drinking responsibly. (Probably should have written this one before St. Patties!)