"like thunder upon beer"

[Garson O'Toole]

The 1775 work "The Rivals: A Comedy" by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
included a metaphor based on the ill-effects of thunder upon milk.

http://books.google.com/books?id=93JbAAAAQAAJ&q=soured#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
The thunder of your words has soured the milk of human kindness in my breast!
[End excerpt]

Apparently, the famous natural philosopher and chemist Robert Boyle
explored the ill effects of thunder upon beer and ale in 1669.

Cite: 1725, The Philosophical Works of the Honourable Robert Boyle:
Abridged, Edited by Peter Shaw, Volume 2, Page 635, Printed for W and
J Innys, London. (Google Books full view)

Physico-mechanical Experiments
[Entries dated 1669]

http://books.google.com/books?id=Y-YJAAAAMAAJ&q=%22great+thunder%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
...the most part of August proving extraordinarily hot; towards the
latter end, there was at several times, great thunder, which turn'd
the beer in our cellar. and in most of those of the neighbourhood,
sour. Sept. 1. The beer was open'd but did not seem to be sour...
...To try, whether the thunder would have such an effect upon ale,
exactly stopt in glass vessels, as it often has on it in ordinary
casks, I caus'd some ale, moderately strong, to be put into a
conveniently shaped receiver...
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 8:07 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "like thunder upon beer"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Aug 19, 2012, at 7:26 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>> I've never seen this striking simile elsewhere, and I choose to rescue it
>> from oblivion:
>>
>> 1834 Francis Bond Head _Bubbles from the Brunnens of Nassau_ (ed. 3)
>> (Brussells: Whalen) 371: In short, his Highness's words acted upon my mind
>> like thunder upon beer.
>
> Gives a whole new meaning to "thunderhead"
>
> LH
>>
>> A search of GB shows that when a brewing was inexplicably spoiled, the
>> blame was frequently laid upon thunder.  So Major Head was disconcerted and
>> discouraged by the remarks of the Russian Prince. And he didn't think his
>> readers of nearly 180 years ago required an explanation.
>>
>> And speaking of GB, it took many, many tries to persuade it that this
>> passage is actually in its memory-bank.
>>
>> JL
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>
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>
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