Volume #AtoZChallenge

As I was dropping an ice cube in my glass of beer the other day, I wondered if the ice changed the "ABV"% for my beer. That "alcohol by Volume" is a good standard gauge, and it's used worldwide.

In China, the cheap-crap wine I found had a higher Volume of alcohol than the "good" wines I drank in the States, but never left me with a headache in the morning. Awesome! The common beers in China had a lower Volume than the microbrews I typically favor. Which is good, because people drank them ALL the time.

In Vietnam, the typical beers everyone drinks, and pours over ice at every family gathering - and keeps pouring and pouring so that no one really knows how much they've been drinking - have low ABV.

We've started buying beer by the case. Only we're metric, so a case is 20 500ml bottles. (They have cases of 24 330ml cans, too.) 

I have recently discovered that I can get three small glasses of beer out of one bottle, if I pour it into a small mug and put ice in it. It's not that I love beer so much, but we drink SO MUCH water - tropics, you know, it's necessary - that it's nice to break it up. And honestly, buying beer is cheaper than buying juice or soda.

I mentioned that I wondered how the ice affected the Volume of alcohol percentage, but I really don't care enough to look it up. I know that I'm not drinking too much when I water it down.

This subject loosely ties in to my "Covid-19" theme, as I keep seeing jokes on social media about how much more everyone is drinking now that we're not going anywhere: day-drinking, stress-drinking, virtual happy hours. I am not immune. I do feel like the "rules" about drinking no longer exist. But am I drinking more? If it's watered down? I don't know. I really don't care, either.

What about you? What has been your go-to beverage of choice while stuck at home? (Alcoholic or not.)

Non-Alcoholic What?

Twitter, lately, seems rather abundant with tweets about "non-alcoholic bars". The first one I paid any attention to was a poll:

No, I would not opt to hang out in a non-alcoholic bar. Not that I need to be drinking all the time, but as I commented on the tweet, why would they call it a bar?

I'm meeting a friend later "for drinks". That implies alcohol. Now, English is a tricky language, as I well know. If English is not your first language, good for you! Kudos for learning such a difficult language! Idioms are tricky in any language.

Since I can't offer an English Idiom lesson via Twitter, I'm doing it here. For all the non-native English speakers...

That statement: "Hey, let's get together for drinks tomorrow!" might make you think you are agreeing to going out to swallow some liquids and not eat. It is important to know what you are agreeing to before you agree to it. If you have been invited out "for drinks"...

• Alcohol will be involved.
• You will not have to drink alcohol, but the person who invited you probably will, since they chose the place.
• If you have a problem with being around alcohol, the time to speak up is when you are invited. If you wait until you get there, you may feel awkward suggesting a change of venue.

That's not the only one. If we say "Let's have coffee tomorrow," we are not requiring the drinking of coffee. People in China prefer tea, yet Starbucks has a booming business (in Beijing, at least). If you are invited out "for coffee", a non-native English speaker should note...

• Coffee will be involved.
• You will not have to drink coffee, but the person who invited you probably will, since they chose the place. Most coffee shops in the western world also serve tea, cocoa, juice, etc.
• If you don't like the smell of coffee, speak up when you are invited. That way you won't feel awkward asking for a change of venue upon arrival, or your friend can choose a place with outside, non-coffee-smelling seating.

These are basic assumptions that English speakers understand.

Likewise, if a friend tells me she wants to go out to "a bar", my assumption is that I will have the option to drink an alcoholic beverage. If we got there and it was non-alcoholic, my expectations would be disappointed. Naturally, I wouldn't abandon my friend, but I would feel that I had been brought there under subterfuge. 

If that friend had invited me to "a non-alcoholic bar" I wouldn't straight up say no, but I would definitely have follow-up questions. Why that particular bar? What is the draw? Do they have phenomenal music? Food? I mean, I don't know too many people who have been through AA, but if it wasn't a friend I knew to be alcoholic, I would be surprised and probably push for a place I could get something stronger.

That is the understood purpose of a bar.

Why would anyone label their business for what it does NOT have? 

"Hi, we're a non-shellfish seafood restaurant."
"Welcome to my non-dairy ice-cream shop."

You have just deliberately divided your clientele. I get why people would choose to go to the "non-X" locations,
but why not offer the "X" as well as the non-X? No bar that I know of requires a patron to drink alcohol.

I mean, I get it. I really do. A recovering alcoholic may like the vibe of a bar but not want the temptation. However, that is your only clientele if you advertise that way. I'm not saying not to offer it, but maybe you need another, non "non-alcoholic" bar to bring in the big dinero, no?

As an English-speaking person, doesn't "bar" offer certain expectations? What would you do?
ttps://twitter.com/MacCocktail/status/1088101648281546753MacCocktail