I'm Trying to Start a New Trend.

[boone]

American...

When folks landed here (Ellis Island) their names were written down in large leger books. Sometimes they allowed the newcomer to write their name but many times the person keeping tallies had to figure out what the individual was saying and try to write the name as he or she heard it.

I know this thru reading back from long ago in my family history. The BEAM name has been written many ways. This (BEAM) is the American version. The original spelling from the land of what we now call Germany was BOEHM.

Whiskey it is.

[barturtle]

American...

When folks landed here (Paris Island) their names were written down in large leger books. Sometimes they allowed the newcomer to write their name but many times the person keeping tallies had to figure out what the individual was saying and try to write the name as he or she heard it.

I know this thru reading back from long ago in my family history. The BEAM name has been written many ways. This (BEAM) is the American version. The original spelling from the land of what we now call Germany was BOEHM.

Whiskey it is.

Ah, but in the land of the free you are welcome to spell you name however you like. Just because their name might be spelled Boehm doesn't mean you are no longer related to them, nor would they, now, be forced to adopt the Beam spelling if they moved here and became a citizen.

[boone]

Ah, but in the land of the free you are welcome to spell you name however you like. Just because their name might be spelled Boehm doesn't mean you are no longer related to them, nor would they, now, be forced to adopt the Beam spelling if they moved here and became a citizen.

Beam it is

[ratcheer]

Gary, I have lived in the Deep South (mostly Georgia and Alabama, but I have been around South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana a good bit) and I have never heard the term "drap". I also have a pretty keen ear out for terms, phrases, and usages. I do recall people using "tot" for a small pour of anything, not just liquor. And I definitely recall my grandmother (b. 1891) saying "toddy", many times. Usually "hot toddy".

Tim

[Gillman]

Tim, thanks, interesting what you said about "tot" and "toddy" and also meaning any kind of beverage (not just spirits). I am now wondering if "shot" and "tot" in their sense of a small amount of hard liquor are related etymologically. I've heard the term drapping used (sort of humorously) in a gathering of bourbon fans in Louisville once and I thought I heard it at various KBF events over the years. As a noun ("drap"), it has been used on the other board by a gent from Conyers, Georgia. He writes in a humorous vein and might be using an older dialectical term to assist the humorous intent but I seem to recall an earlier discussion where a number of people said the term was known to them or their families. To me it has a Scots-Irish ring but I could be wrong. Its use might be quite regional or even local, of course. By the way I have never heard the term dram in South or any related form (e.g., dramming).

Gary

[cowdery]

I know this is getting off subject and for that I apologize. But I'm curious, when American authors are published in the UK and vice versa is it common practice to change the spelling?

Absolutely. Every piece I write for WHISKY Magazine is so edited (and I'm talking about words other than whiskey) and Lew Bryson, Managing Editor of Malt Advocate, mentioned to me over the weekend that he does the same for everything they publish by Stephen Beaumont.

[cowdery]

I agree that "whiskey" and "whisky" are the same thing: distilled grains aged in wood.

What is the argument presented by those who say they are different things?

Further, I consider the Dickel and Maker's Mark use of the latter to be an affectation. Dickel calls themselves a "Tennessee Whiskey" even though they spell it without the "e" on the label.

I guess not so much arguments as just crazy beliefs. Here's just one example. I read someone who stated that Jack Daniel's was required to use the "whisky" spelling because the "whiskey" spelling was only allowed for bourbon.

[cowdery]

In the post above, I meant to say George Dickel. Jack Daniel's spells it the right way.

The other American brands that use "whisky" are Early Times and Maker's Mark.

[Gillman]

And Old Forester.

Gary

[mier]

Why not go back to the origin and call it UISCE? .
Eric.