highball

[Gerald Cohen]

     Yes, I should have typed 1895 instead of 1885 for Barry's
antedating of OED's 1898 attestation (I must have been tired.) But I
still can't locate his message with the antedating.

    Also, FWIW, there's another meaning of "highball" (not in OED);
it's a type of carnival game; cf. _San Francisco Chronicle_, Oct. 26,
1965, p.4, col. 1;  "Words and Music" by Dean Wallace; in reference
to state fairs and carnivals, he says:
  "...the 'Highball,' as carnies call it, that platform with the tower
where you hit a lever with a sledge-hammer and ring a bell at the
top,..."

     Of course, if this carnie "highball" game has any relevance to
the start of "highball" (the drink), we'd need evidence that the
carnie highball preceded the name of the drink. And that's an open
question.

    Whoever invented the drink-term "highball" might have first heard
this term somewhere else (railroad? poker? carnies?) and then applied
the non-alcoholic term to the drink due the high glass it was served
in.

     Many other drink-names were also first used in a non-alcoholic
setting, e.g. "screwdriver," "bloody Mary."

---Gerald Cohen

At 1:57 AM -0500 3/3/02, Richard Gage wrote:
>On Sat, 2 Mar 2002, Gerald Cohen <gcohen at UMR.EDU> wrote:
>>
>>  In a 7 Jan. 2001 message Barry Popik mentioned that his earliest
>>cites of highball (the drink) are from 1885 and added "See
>>archives." I can't find the relevant message however. I'd be
>>grateful if he, upon returning from his travels, or perhaps any
>>other ADS member would send me the
>>  information. (I sometimes overlook the obvious). OED's earliest
>>attestation is 1898.
>>
>>  This is for a working paper compiling the ads-l treatments of the
>>term, particularly two of Barry's. Any assistance would be much
>>appreciated.
>>
>>  --Gerald Cohen
>
>Typo?  According to the message you cite, Barry's earliest cites are
>1895, not 1885.  I'd be intrigued, though, if you should happen to
>discover a connection between highball the drink and either highball
>the poker game or highball the railroading term for flooring it.
>(See OED definitions below).