I think there should be a competition every four years like the World Cup called the World's Best Drinker.

There would be individual events like Beer drinking -- (the Germans are a favorite) Vodka drinking -- (the Russians have the edge) Insulting Belching Singing maudlin songs Etc... One event I envisioned would simply be called "Ring the Bell". Two men sit at a table, take a shot, then have to walk across the room to ring a bell. Whoever can't do it anymore loses.

And, of course, in any event, if you puke, you're out.

There might also be team events -- Like the drunk maze, cow tipping, "catch the chiken", or bar brawling.

-- any other suggestions?

In the end, like gymnasitcs, one team will be crowned world champion. I mean, other than sports, what are nations truly proud of -- I say, it's their ability to drink other nations under the table.

Plus, it could be a sport the Irish could finally dominate.
-- EdisonsTwin, Jul 10 2006

Language Log on origins of Churchill quote http://itre.cis.upe...rchives/002670.html
Note attribution to an unnamed Strand writer in 1942. [jutta, Jul 12 2006]

Language Log on Dryden's Rule http://itre.cis.upe...rchives/002485.html
A short history of how it came into popular belief. [jutta, Jul 12 2006]

\\"catch the chiken"\\ Presumably by this point, the competitors are too drunk to spell correctly.

I can see [21 Quest]'s point, but this is no worse than competitive eating, which certain nations seem to have whole-heartedly embraced.
-- hidden truths, Jul 11 2006


Best is not synonomous with most.
-- normzone, Jul 11 2006


Terrible, terrible idea. And vague.
-- wagster, Jul 11 2006


come back in four years when you've got it organised.
-- xenzag, Jul 11 2006


Maybe I march to the beat of a different drummer, or maybe I'm drunk, either way us Irish folk need something to excel at other than darts so here's a bun. And yes, it could have been better written. And yes, I do know you shouldn't start a sentence with a preposition (that's for all you spelling Nazis).
-- Pac-man, Jul 11 2006


[Pac-man], you can, in fact, start a sentence with a preposition; you just can't end a sentence with one. (In either case none of your sentences started or ended with prepositions)
-- Gallus, Jul 11 2006


I'm confident that you can spell all the prepositions, [Pac-man].
-- pigtails_and_ponies, Jul 11 2006


You see that... they say you learn something new everyday... I guess they're right.
-- Pac-man, Jul 12 2006


As far as linking chicken abuse with alcohol is concerned, there's historical precedent:

"As for cock ale, they used to get a cock (i.e. a male chicken), stick it in a sack and bash it against walls until it was completely pulverized. It was important that the bones were shattered and the whole thing was a bloody pulp. Then they'd chuck in a load of spices, such as cloves and mace, and drop the bag into a vat of ale while it was fermenting, and age the resulting brew for longer than normal to produce a much richer, heartier beer than normal. Yes, I'm serious. No, I don't know why, nor what the person who first did it was thinking of." [Man Walks into a Pub: A Sociable History of Beer, by Pete Brown]

Now we know: they were training for the 17th-century World's Best Drinker competition?
-- imaginality, Jul 12 2006


// you can, in fact, start a sentence with a preposition; you just can't end a sentence with one. // Sadly, this has changed. I used to be very staunch about this until my wife read me an article about how this is now officially considered OK in the English language (at least in the USA). "Ain't" is also officially a word now.
-- MoreCowbell, Jul 12 2006


[MoreCowbell], not just in the USA. Even Churchill thought it silly to be too strict about prepositions - when a civil servant corrected a sentence of his that ended in a preposition, Churchill annotated the correction with the comment, "This is the kind of nonsense up with which I shall not put."
-- imaginality, Jul 12 2006


Of course [ET] started an entire paragraph with a... conjunction! <Sharp intakes of breath around the 'bakery> Release the hounds!!!
-- wagster, Jul 12 2006


I gots them conjunctions the other year. Me eyes itched for ages, they did.
-- methinksnot, Jul 12 2006


[[And, of course, in any event, if you puke, you're out.]]

And if you die .. ?
-- kuupuuluu, Jul 16 2006



random, halfbakery