the.com/bar
the only place where strangers become philosophers and back to strangers by closing time
means A place that serves alcoholic drinks, named for the long counter you lean against to order them.
from From the Old French 'barre,' meaning a rod, bolt, or barrier — anything long and straight that blocks or divides. English borrowed it in the Middle Ages, and the word multiplied: a bar could be a barrier in a courtroom (hence lawyers being 'called to the bar'), a sandbar, a bar of soap or gold. The drinking sense comes from the literal barrier — the counter that separated the customer from the bottles and the keeper behind it. So the place where strangers become philosophers is named, fittingly, for the thing standing between them and another round.
- origin
- named for the literal railing separating drinkers from booze
- prohibition
- speakeasies hid behind bookshelves and fake storefronts
- oldest
- Sean's Bar in Ireland dates to 900 AD
- science
- loud music makes people drink faster, studies confirm
- etymology
- barkeep once meant guard of the gate
stone's bar new york — oldest continuously operated bar in the us, established 1762 in manhattan
schumann's bar munich — legendary cocktail bar opened 1921, considered birthplace of modern bartending
rules restaurant london — oldest restaurant with a bar in england, opened 1798 in covent garden