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Happy hour

Posted by ESC on May 19, 2004

In Reply to: Happy hour posted by Jessica on May 19, 2004

: I know this one was posted before, but I can't access it in the archives... does anyone know the origins of the term 'happy hour?'

Here you go. From the archives:

happy hour n. [1950s+] (orig. US)
a period, 1 or poss. 2 hours, when a pub or bar offers drinks at half price, usu. about 6pm: the assumption is that those customers who arrive for the cheap drinks will become sufficiently tipsy to stay on for the more expensive ones.
[orig. US Navy term for a scheduled period of time for entertainment and refreshment]
From Cassell's Dictionary of Slang by Jonathon Green
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Boxing and wrestling were taken up by the individual ship and, generally speaking, one evening each were given over to "happy hours," for bouts in the ring and on the mat. (Belknap, _Yankee Mining Squad_, 1920)
Except for those who spend too much during "happy hour" at the bar -- and there are few of these -- the money mounts up fast. (_Saturday Evening Post_, April 25, 1959)

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