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See Also
See Again
© Getty Images
0 / 30 Fotos
Speakeasy
- A speakeasy was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages during Prohibition. Today, it may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies.
© Getty Images
1 / 30 Fotos
Blind pig
- Another term for a speakeasy was a blind pig. However, the difference was that a blind pig evaded police detection by fronting as a different sort of legitimate business.
© Getty Images
2 / 30 Fotos
Blind pig
- Also known as a blind tiger, these places would charge patrons a fee up front so they could look at some sort of exotic animal (a blind pig or tiger). They would then give them a free cocktail once they entered.
© Getty Images
3 / 30 Fotos
Brick of wine
- People who wanted wine could get some by simply adding water to a dehydrated block of juice. After storing it for a few weeks, it would become wine.
© Getty Images
4 / 30 Fotos
Juice joint
- A juice joint was a term originally used for a soft drink stand. But that changed during Prohibition.
© Getty Images
5 / 30 Fotos
Juice joint
- In the '30s, the term began to be used to refer to a bar, club, or stall serving either alcoholic or non-alcoholic liquor.
© Getty Images
6 / 30 Fotos
Jake walk
- A jake walk is paralysis or loss of muscle control in the leg due to an overconsumption of Jamaican ginger, which is known as Jake. It's a legal substance with an alcoholic base.
© Getty Images
7 / 30 Fotos
Jake walk
- The numbness led consumers to walk in a distinct way, which was also known as Jake leg or Jake foot.
© Getty Images
8 / 30 Fotos
Hooch
- Hooch refers to low-quality liquor, usually whiskey. Having originated in the late 1800s, as a shortened version of Alaskan beverage Hoochinoo, it came back into heavy use in the '20s.
© Getty Images
9 / 30 Fotos
Bathtub gin
- Bathtub gin was homemade gin, which would often be made in a bottle so tall that it couldn't be mixed with water from a sink tap. Instead, it was mixed in a bathtub.
© Getty Images
10 / 30 Fotos
Bathtub gin
- Poorly made, the phrase came to be used as a general term for any type of cheap homemade booze.
© Getty Images
11 / 30 Fotos
White lightning
- White lightning was the whiskey equivalent of bathtub gin. It was highly potent, illegally made, and also made from poor-quality spirits.
© Getty Images
12 / 30 Fotos
On a toot
- On a toot meant to go on a drinking spree!
© Getty Images
13 / 30 Fotos
On a toot
- "To toot one's horn" may have played a role in coining this phrase, as some people tend to get a bit overconfident when they drink.
© Getty Images
14 / 30 Fotos
Ombibulous
- The term was made up by American journalist and essayist H.L. Mencken in 1920 to describe his love of alcohol.
© Getty Images
15 / 30 Fotos
Ombibulous
- "I'm ombibulous. I drink every known alcoholic drink and enjoy them all," Mencken wrote. He was also fond of referring to bootleggers as booticians.
© Getty Images
16 / 30 Fotos
Giggle water
- Giggle water was a term for champagne that originated in 1910. During Prohibition, it referred more generally to alcoholic beverages made of whiskey or gin.
© Getty Images
17 / 30 Fotos
Needle beer
- During the Prohibition era, a saloon keeper could use alcohol-free or low-alcohol beer, a jar of alcohol, and a needle to make needle beer, also known as spiked beer.
© Getty Images
18 / 30 Fotos
Needle beer
- This would be done by pushing a syringe of alcohol through the cork in the barrel, and injecting it into the beer. However, it was very dangerous.
© Getty Images
19 / 30 Fotos
Blotto
- Blotto is an extremely drunk person, often to the point of unconsciousness.
© Getty Images
20 / 30 Fotos
Teetotaler
- A teetotaler is a person who abstains from the consumption of alcohol. In the early 1800s, tee-total and tee-totally were used to intensify the words total and totally.
© Getty Images
21 / 30 Fotos
Teetotaler
- Teetotal and teetotaler first appeared with their current meanings in 1834. But it was only during Prohibition that it was popularized.
© Getty Images
22 / 30 Fotos
G-man
- Believed to be a shortened form of "government man," a g-man was a special agent of the FBI. Laws banning the sale of alcohol led to an increase in crime, and caused many more law enforcement officers to be assigned in this area.
© Getty Images
23 / 30 Fotos
Dry
- During Prohibition, dry was a noun used in reference to a person who is opposed to the legal sale of alcoholic beverages.
© Getty Images
24 / 30 Fotos
Dry
- Bureau of Prohibition agents were often referred to as dry agents, though corruption was highly common. As an adjective, it describes a place that doesn't serve alcohol.
© Getty Images
25 / 30 Fotos
Wet
- The opposite of dry, a wet was a person who was for the legal sale of alcoholic beverages. It was also a place where liquor was supplied.
© Getty Images
26 / 30 Fotos
Bootlegging
- Also known as rum-running, bootlegging originally involved transporting flasks of alcohol inside one's boots.
© Getty Images
27 / 30 Fotos
Bootlegging
- For some, bootlegging became a lucrative business. Bootlegging king George Remus (pictured) earned a US$5 million fortune from this illegal activity during the early days of Prohibition.
© Getty Images
28 / 30 Fotos
Scofflaw
- Meaning a contemptuous law violator, the term came about as a result of America's attempt at collective sobriety. Sources: (Mental Floss) (Merriam-Webster) See also: Fearless Prohibition-era cocktails
© Getty Images
29 / 30 Fotos
© Getty Images
0 / 30 Fotos
Speakeasy
- A speakeasy was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages during Prohibition. Today, it may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies.
© Getty Images
1 / 30 Fotos
Blind pig
- Another term for a speakeasy was a blind pig. However, the difference was that a blind pig evaded police detection by fronting as a different sort of legitimate business.
© Getty Images
2 / 30 Fotos
Blind pig
- Also known as a blind tiger, these places would charge patrons a fee up front so they could look at some sort of exotic animal (a blind pig or tiger). They would then give them a free cocktail once they entered.
© Getty Images
3 / 30 Fotos
Brick of wine
- People who wanted wine could get some by simply adding water to a dehydrated block of juice. After storing it for a few weeks, it would become wine.
© Getty Images
4 / 30 Fotos
Juice joint
- A juice joint was a term originally used for a soft drink stand. But that changed during Prohibition.
© Getty Images
5 / 30 Fotos
Juice joint
- In the '30s, the term began to be used to refer to a bar, club, or stall serving either alcoholic or non-alcoholic liquor.
© Getty Images
6 / 30 Fotos
Jake walk
- A jake walk is paralysis or loss of muscle control in the leg due to an overconsumption of Jamaican ginger, which is known as Jake. It's a legal substance with an alcoholic base.
© Getty Images
7 / 30 Fotos
Jake walk
- The numbness led consumers to walk in a distinct way, which was also known as Jake leg or Jake foot.
© Getty Images
8 / 30 Fotos
Hooch
- Hooch refers to low-quality liquor, usually whiskey. Having originated in the late 1800s, as a shortened version of Alaskan beverage Hoochinoo, it came back into heavy use in the '20s.
© Getty Images
9 / 30 Fotos
Bathtub gin
- Bathtub gin was homemade gin, which would often be made in a bottle so tall that it couldn't be mixed with water from a sink tap. Instead, it was mixed in a bathtub.
© Getty Images
10 / 30 Fotos
Bathtub gin
- Poorly made, the phrase came to be used as a general term for any type of cheap homemade booze.
© Getty Images
11 / 30 Fotos
White lightning
- White lightning was the whiskey equivalent of bathtub gin. It was highly potent, illegally made, and also made from poor-quality spirits.
© Getty Images
12 / 30 Fotos
On a toot
- On a toot meant to go on a drinking spree!
© Getty Images
13 / 30 Fotos
On a toot
- "To toot one's horn" may have played a role in coining this phrase, as some people tend to get a bit overconfident when they drink.
© Getty Images
14 / 30 Fotos
Ombibulous
- The term was made up by American journalist and essayist H.L. Mencken in 1920 to describe his love of alcohol.
© Getty Images
15 / 30 Fotos
Ombibulous
- "I'm ombibulous. I drink every known alcoholic drink and enjoy them all," Mencken wrote. He was also fond of referring to bootleggers as booticians.
© Getty Images
16 / 30 Fotos
Giggle water
- Giggle water was a term for champagne that originated in 1910. During Prohibition, it referred more generally to alcoholic beverages made of whiskey or gin.
© Getty Images
17 / 30 Fotos
Needle beer
- During the Prohibition era, a saloon keeper could use alcohol-free or low-alcohol beer, a jar of alcohol, and a needle to make needle beer, also known as spiked beer.
© Getty Images
18 / 30 Fotos
Needle beer
- This would be done by pushing a syringe of alcohol through the cork in the barrel, and injecting it into the beer. However, it was very dangerous.
© Getty Images
19 / 30 Fotos
Blotto
- Blotto is an extremely drunk person, often to the point of unconsciousness.
© Getty Images
20 / 30 Fotos
Teetotaler
- A teetotaler is a person who abstains from the consumption of alcohol. In the early 1800s, tee-total and tee-totally were used to intensify the words total and totally.
© Getty Images
21 / 30 Fotos
Teetotaler
- Teetotal and teetotaler first appeared with their current meanings in 1834. But it was only during Prohibition that it was popularized.
© Getty Images
22 / 30 Fotos
G-man
- Believed to be a shortened form of "government man," a g-man was a special agent of the FBI. Laws banning the sale of alcohol led to an increase in crime, and caused many more law enforcement officers to be assigned in this area.
© Getty Images
23 / 30 Fotos
Dry
- During Prohibition, dry was a noun used in reference to a person who is opposed to the legal sale of alcoholic beverages.
© Getty Images
24 / 30 Fotos
Dry
- Bureau of Prohibition agents were often referred to as dry agents, though corruption was highly common. As an adjective, it describes a place that doesn't serve alcohol.
© Getty Images
25 / 30 Fotos
Wet
- The opposite of dry, a wet was a person who was for the legal sale of alcoholic beverages. It was also a place where liquor was supplied.
© Getty Images
26 / 30 Fotos
Bootlegging
- Also known as rum-running, bootlegging originally involved transporting flasks of alcohol inside one's boots.
© Getty Images
27 / 30 Fotos
Bootlegging
- For some, bootlegging became a lucrative business. Bootlegging king George Remus (pictured) earned a US$5 million fortune from this illegal activity during the early days of Prohibition.
© Getty Images
28 / 30 Fotos
Scofflaw
- Meaning a contemptuous law violator, the term came about as a result of America's attempt at collective sobriety. Sources: (Mental Floss) (Merriam-Webster) See also: Fearless Prohibition-era cocktails
© Getty Images
29 / 30 Fotos
Words and phrases popularized during Prohibition
From "beer needle" to "blind pig"
© Getty Images
In January 1920, the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution went into effect, prohibiting the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. This kicked off the period known as Prohibition, which, believe it or not, led to the creation of brand-new words—everything from drinking establishments, to the people who made booze, to booze itself. And while the 21st Amendment ended Prohibition on December 5, 1933, the colorful colloquialisms it popularized have stood the test of time.
Curious? Click on to check out words and phrases popularized during Prohibition.
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