Re: B-drinks

Isabelle Cecchini wrote:

What's the meaning of "B-drinks" here? Is it "drinks beginning with B", "beers", because she wants something stronger? Or is it a reference to some legislation involving drink categories?

[From Jonathon Green, _The Cassell Dictionary of Slang_ (London, 1998)]

b-drink /n/ [1930s] (US) a drink that resembles whisky (and charged as such) but is in fact cold tea: served to the female companion of a man who has entered a club in the hope of sex; thus /b-drinker/, the woman who consumes such drinks. [B-GIRL; i.e. the sort of drink she consumes]

b-girl /n/ [103-s=60s] 1 (US) a dance-hall hostess whose primary job is not to dance but to promote liquor sales to the clientele. 2 (orig. US) a part-time prostitute, who frequents bars and uses them as a base for soliciting. [abbr. /bar-girl/; RHDAS suggests ult. ety. in /beading-oil/ and/or PUT THE BEE ON phr..<3>]

[end of citations]

Even though slang dictionaries are always out of date, they are useful for terms that were current before the date of publication. There are several good ones, of which Green's, now available in paperback, is perhaps the best.
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: B-drinks
    ... because she wants something stronger? ... Or is it a reference to ... some legislation involving drink categories? ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: B-drinks
    ... Or is it a reference to ... some legislation involving drink categories? ... such) but is in fact cold tea: served to the female companion of a man ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: B-drinks
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