[Hartwood] Work of the day

[Valorie Lennox]

I love these definitions John. Thank you for posting them. I'm always
entertained and educated by them.
So...do you think we could refer to soda pop as 'small beer' in the Current
Middle Ages?
Keep well,
Val/Elspeth 

-----Original Message-----
From: Hartwood [mailto:hartwood-bounces at tirrigh.org] On Behalf Of John Mail
Sent: February-21-14 7:28 AM
To: Lionsgate; hartwood at tirrigh.org
Subject: [Hartwood] Work of the day

small beer \SMAWL-BEER\
 
 
 
 
noun
 
1 :    weak or inferior beer
 
2 :    something of small importance : trivia
 
 
 
 
      The money we spend on cable is small beer compared to the mortgage
payment we have to come up with every month.
 
"The main drink was 'small beer', which had a low alcohol content—just
enough to preserve it—and was drunk by almost everyone, from children to old
men, instead of water." — From an article by Alex Fensome in The Dominion
Post (New Zealand), January 13, 2014
 

 

 
 
 
 
      "Small beer" dates from Shakespeare's day. The Bard didn't coin it (he
would have been just a child in 1568, the date of the first documented
instance of "small beer"), but he did put the term to good use. In Henry VI,
Part 2, for example, the rebel Jack Cade declares that, when he becomes
king, he will "make it felony to drink small beer." In Othello, Desdemona
asks Iago to describe a "deserving woman." Iago responds by listing praises
for ten lines, only to conclude that such a woman would be suited "to suckle
fools, and chronicle small beer"; in other words, to raise babies and keep
track of insignificant household expenses. Desdemona quickly retorts,
declaring Iago's assertion a "most lame and impotent conclusion."


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