Pub Glossary T

PUB GLOSSARY

T

TAB (See SLATE)

TANKARD – Metal beer glass, usually carried by the drinker and presented to the bar staff for refilling as an alternative to using theirs. The tankard was favoured for being unbreakable, and at one time beer glasses were much rarer.

TAVERN – A non-residential pub, namely one that is not an inn or hotel. The Tavern serves drinks but at closing time all but live in owners and managers have to leave. Many pubs called inns are in reality, taverns. The word derives from the Roman Tabernae.

TEETOTAL / TEETOTALISM – Staying away from all forms of alcohol.

TEMPERANCE MOVEMENTS – Religious groups who oppose drinking and alcohol culture and often campaigned for prohibition, or targeted drinkers to get them to abandon pubs for church going. The Salvation Army was a strong Temperance Movement, as satirized in the musical Guys And Dolls. Such pressure groups were powerful in 19th and the early 20th century.

THE – Definitive article often omitted from pub signs to save room for the pictorial images.

THEME BAR – A pub in which the décor, and often the entertainment is given a set theme. The most common Mancunian theme is that of The Irish Bar, which will have shamrocks, pictures of leprechauns, images of well known members of the Irish community, and Irish singers on its jukebox, though the bar proprietors and staff may not be Irish themselves.

Some pubs become theme bars by reputation by attracting lots of customers with shared interests, as happens with biker bars, Goth Bars, or by putting on events regularly for a select audience, i.e., karaoke bars are bars which have frequent karaoke nights.

During the annual Manchester Irish Festival in March, and especially on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) many ordinary pubs pretend to be Irish theme bars.

TICKERS – CAMRA enthusiasts who come to pubs to sample the real ales, making notes on quality, flavour, conditioning, etc. Their ticks or lack of them can get a pub mentioned in good pub / beer guides, or excluded.

TIED HOUSE – a pub owned by a brewery or a chain, and obliged to sell only ales brewed by or promoted by the brewery that owns the pub. A brewery can hire or fire a landlord or manager and may move them around at short notice to other bars owned by the brewery.

TIPPLE – A drink, usual shorts.

TIPS – Bar staff seldom get more than the National minimum wage for their duties, and rely on tips from customers for an income supplement. In many bars there is a maximum tip ceiling to stop bar staff exploiting naïve customers leaving them large amounts of money. The ceiling can be set at 10 p on top of the cost of a round of drinks.

TIPSTERS – Customers who almost always leave generous tips for the bar staff, often in hope of getting quicker, preferential service.

TOP UP – A request for more beer to be added to a glass at the initial serving if the drinker thinks there is too much head on the pint.

TRAVELLERS  – Pubs often ban gypsies and travellers from drinking on site as many locals dislike and mistrust them. The nomadic lifestyle of the travelling means they have no ties to the pub, and if there is any trouble, trying to locate a suspect of no fixed abode can prove challenging. Many people assume all travellers are thieves, crooks, etc, and many innocent travellers get blamed for cars stolen or other offences committed in an area they are resting in. Many pubs sadly fuel such prejudices and fear that their bar might become a focal point for conflict between travellers and their opponents. Hence the ‘No Travellers’ signs in many pub doorways and windows.

TURNS – Individual or groups of entertainers providing songs, dances or novelty acts at a pub’s saloon entertainment nights. If there are multiple artists lined up, people will wonder which turn is on next. (Who’s ‘turn’ is it? The more experienced performers or more popular ones will get higher billing and performer both later and longer.

Arthur Chappell