wassail

[Palewriter]

wassail

A timely word to be sure. According to the Online Etymological Dictionary:

c.1140, from O.N. ves heill "be healthy," a salutation, from ves, imperative of vesa "to be" (see was) + heill "healthy" (see health). Use as a drinking phrase appears to have arisen among Danes in England and spread to native inhabitants. A similar formation appears in O.E. wes þu hal, but this is not recorded as a drinking salutation. Sense extended c.1300 to "liquor in which healths were drunk," especially spiced ale used in Christmas Eve celebrations. Meaning "a carousal, reveling" first attested 1602. Wassailing "custom of going caroling house to house at Christmas time" is recorded from 1742.

Belated Christmas greetings to all Agorans, and ves heill.

-- PW

[Bailey]

I need some of that, too bad you have to work between Christmas and New Year's PW.

mark at-home Bailey

[Perry]

I am lifting an espresso to your health as we speak. I'd prefer a good ale, but in any event this particular coffee is very fragrant.