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common sewer

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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A punning allusion to shared drains for sewage. Compare drain (a drink).

Pronunciation

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  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

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common sewer (plural common sewers)

  1. (UK, slang, archaic) A communal session of drinking alcohol.
    • 1869, Meliora, volume 12, page 47:
      When men go into a 'sluicery' for a 'sensation,' a 'drain,' or a 'common sewer,' they call the glass of gin they seek, in allusion to the juniper, a 'nipper,' or, more briefly, a 'nip,' occasionally a 'bite,' and not unfrequently it turns out a 'flogger.'

References

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  • John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary