by Stephen Andrews (単語・表現リスト by Shigeri Nishide)
Like most British people, I love drinking and going to the pub. After work, at the weekend, during a lunch break, in the evening – any time is a good time for a pint or two. When you hear someone say they’re ‘going for a few pints*’ it means they’re going to have several glasses of beer.
Drinking alcohol plays a much bigger role in British culture than in many other countries, so it’s not surprising that the Brits have hundreds of slang words for one of their favourite national pastimes.
Your local pub
In olden times, a pub was known as a ‘tavern’ ‘hostelry’ or ‘public house’. These days, a British friend might ask you if you fancy ‘going down the boozer’, or visiting their ‘local’.
The reason pubs have very visual names like Red Lion, Swan, Rose & Crown, White Hart and Queen’s Head is that, in years gone by*, many people were unable to read, but could easily recognise a colourful sign of a lion or swan, for example, hanging outside the pub.
What’s your tipple?
In a typical British pub, there are lots of different beers to choose from. And everyone has their own preferred ‘tipple’ – their favourite.
‘Real ales’ are very popular, brewed* in small breweries* using traditional ingredients.
In different parts of the UK, you’ll find local beers that you won’t find anywhere else – like ‘Black Sheep’, ‘Magic Rock Rapture’, or how about a pint of ‘Baby Faced Assassin’ – all from Yorkshire.
‘Pale ale’, a traditional British drink, is brewed using malt*, rather than barley* like most beers. The most popular is Newcastle Brown Ale.
‘Stout’ is a dark, strong beer. The most famous is Guinness, the rich, creamy Irish stout.
Some of the beers people love most are lagers, with their lighter, blonde colour. Foreign brands like Heineken (Dutch), Stella Artois (French), Red Stripe (Jamaica) and Japanese beer like Sapporo and Asahi are all big favourites.
Ordering a drink
If it’s your turn to buy drinks, you’ll need to ‘get a round in’, which means buying a drink for everyone.
Then it’s traditional to raise your glass and express good wishes. The most common expression is ‘cheers!’, but you might also say ‘good health’, or weirder expressions like ‘bottoms up’, ‘down the hatch’ or ‘here’s mud in your eye’.
Feeling tipsy?
If you’re only going to the pub for a quick drink, you’ll be popping* in for ‘a swift one’. If you spend the whole evening drinking, you might end up* going to several different pubs in one night. This is called a ‘pub crawl’.
Take it from me*, after you’ve visited a few pubs, you’ll probably have had ‘one too many’ – more drinks than you should have – and be feeling a little bit drunk, or ‘tipsy’. There are lots of other words for that, too. Perhaps the most widely used for being drunk is ‘pissed’.
If you’re really, really drunk, then you’re completely ‘sloshed’, ‘off your face’, ‘paralytic’, or ‘sozzled’.
As the night wears on, and everyone gets drunker and drunker, you might be challenged to ‘knock it back in one’ – swallowing your drink in one go, even if you have a whole pint of beer to drink!
In the morning, you may well be suffering from a ‘hangover’, a very bad headache! Don’t worry, it’ll pass*!
Cheers!
So next time you’re enjoying an evening in the pub, you’ll know exactly what to say. Unless, of course, you’ve had one too many and are just too tipsy to speak!
単語・表現リスト:
本文に説明がないもの（*がついている）
pint(s) : 液体の単位で、1 pintは約568ml。スーパーで売っている牛乳はpint単位が多く、1 pintから始まり2, 4, 6 pintsボトルがあります。我が家では4 pints (2.272L)のを買います。
in years goes by: long time agoの意味
brew : ビールを作る（醸造する）
brewery : ビールの醸造所・醸造会社
malt : 麦芽、モルト
barley : 大麦
pop : ちょっとどこかに行く。
このブログのpop inは、ちょっと立ち寄るという感じの意味。
end up : 特に予定していたわけではないが、色々あって最終的にそういう状況になったというニュアンスの表現
take it from me: 日本語訳にすると「信じて下さいね」のようになって変ですので、英語で言うと、accept what I say is trueという意味
pass : passには色々な意味がありますが、ここではend, stopなどと同じ意味
本文に説明があるもの（斜体でになっている）
boozer : パブ。Boozeはお酒（アルコール）の事
stout : 強い黒ビール
get a round in: 友達とパブに行くと、順番に全員の飲み物を買う場合が多く、’It’s my round.’ （自分の番）だけど、何を飲む？と友達全員に聞いたり、次自分が買うと言いたい時には、’I’ll get a round in.’などと言ったりします。
pub crawl : はしご（酒）
have had one too many, tipsy, pissed : 酔っ払っている（drunk)
sloshed, off your face, paralytic, sizzled: very drunk
knock it back in one: 一気に飲む
hangover : 二日酔い