Erin Go Blaaargh

[madbaker]

Saint Patrick's Day brings out my contrariness. I always want to wear orange.

Perhaps it's just as well that I don't have any orange shirts. On the other hand, 99% of the people who flock to bars and drink green beer would not understand the reference.

Kiss My Ass, it's Irish!

What I'm reading: Wen Spencer, Alien Taste

Comments

[maestrateresa.livejournal.com]

Ewww. Gives a whole new meaning to the term "shamrock shake"

Not quite the Pot o' gold, there. More like 'Bog Thatch'

[fionnbharro.livejournal.com]

[Insert some wickedly witty comment about 'Sickbed of Cuchulainn' and 'contagion' here. Make reference to shaped pubic hair and peat bogs. And protestant sheep-f*ckers.]

I'd have to kick your shins if you wear orange. And the numbers are more like 90%, not 99%. Unless you're talking specifically about the people who actually drink green beer in which case I'd agree that anyone who drinks beer light enough to be dyed green deserves not to know why you'd be wearing orange.

Re: green beer

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I was referring specifically to the U.S. population who thinks that green beer is authentically Irish, that wearing green on "St. Paddy's Day" makes them Irish, and that corned beef and potatoes are what the Irish have been eating for the last thousand years.

FYI, corned beef is a New York Jewish deli invention.

Re: green beer

[fionnbharro.livejournal.com]

I thought Corned Beef was older than the NY Deli timeframe -- although, I also thought most people knew 'New England Boiled Dinner' wasn't 'Irish'.

I was under the impression that 'To Corn' was a method of curing or preserving various cuts of meat (not just beef) that provided a tenderizing effect in the process -- and had been around for centuries.

But hey, what do I know?

Re: green beer

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

from: http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/kid/foodmeats.html#cornedbeef

While the process of preserving meat with salt is ancient, food historians tell us corned beef (preserving beef with "corns" or large grains of salt) originated in Medieval Europe. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the first use of the word corn, meaning "small hard particle, a grain, as of sand or salt," in print to 888. The term "corned beef" dates to 1621.

Whoops!

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

You are absolutely correct. I was not precise.

The corned beef that is commonly served today alongside cabbage and potatoes as "authentic Irish" originated in New York.

Turn around is fair play, my nits deserve picking too.

Re: Whoops!

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Ah, interesting. I didn't read the whole article that I cited, mind you. The corned beef I've had was much like I make myself (sans nitrates); what's different about the stuff you're speaking of?

Re: Whoops!

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I'll have to check my research books at home to find the references. It may be a coupla days, but I will post something - either a fuller explanation, or a retraction if I've mis-remembered. 8)

Re: Whoops!

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Okey, at your leisure. We're having corned beef tonight, as it happens, in basic NE boiled dinner via crockpot. Yum!

Hahahahahaha!

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

That's pretty good (the cartoon).

I forgot it was St. Patty's day when I got up, but then most of my heritage is German, so I'm not worried about wearing green.

On the other hand, not driving anywhere this evening seems like a good idea ... <g>

As to understanding the Orange thing, you're most likely correct. Most Americans (particularly those who use St. Patrick's day as a great reason to go get blitzed) probably have no idea what Orange would stand for, or why it meant you were being contrary (or to some in Ireland, an asshole who needs to die ... <g>).