A long tall cool drink of water

Posted by john on March 19, 2010 at 01:18

In Reply to: A long tall cool drink of water posted by Shirley Thompson on March 18, 2010 at 23:35:

: What is the origin of the phrase "A long tall cool drink of water?" I heard this phrase to describe a woman. I lived in the south and also heard this phrase to describe a tall good looking person but would like to know where it originated from. Thank you.

This one is pretty hard to pin down. There are many variations on the saying and many interpretations of what it means. I've always heard it as "A tall drink of water" and taken it to mean a tall, slender person. It could be a female or a male, and not necessarily attractive. Google comes up with variations like long drink of water, tall glass of water, long, tall glass or drink, with some people only applying it to women, or some only to men. Some definitions carry the idea of attractiveness. Others suggest tall and attractive while some say it just means attractive (and not necessarily tall). "Refreshing" is a word that comes up often in definitions for the phrase. One even stated that it means tall and plain; "as uninteresting as a glass of water". Perhaps it's a regional thing. Most of the posts from "down south" likened it to a tall good-looking woman. In that sense, I would lean toward the refreshing, desirable, satisfying, thirst-quenching connection.

• A long tall cool drink of water Victoria S Dennis 19/March/10
  • A long tall cool drink of water James Briggs 19/March/10
    • A long tall cool drink of water Janes'_kid 19/March/10
      • A long tall cool drink of water Smokey Stover 21/March/10
        • A long tall cool drink of water Smokey Stover 26/March/10