Nothing remotely rocking about this week's quiz; nothing pop-tastic; nothing Gen-X specific. Just a bit of history.
What commercially produced, consumable substance takes its name from the village in Germany in a region once known as Hesse-Nassau which is credited with creating it as a commercial product back in the 18th Century?* At the time it had a more or less medicinal purpose, no longer applicable. It goes by a couple of names now, but we're looking for the one that reflects this town of (real or putative) origin.
First correct answer to comments wins a check for an amount, in U.S. currency, equal to the cost of a one-day supply of the stuff for a single adult person.
*This date represents the first recorded use of the original term in English, which is in 1741 -- the town and its product almost certainly go further back.
Posted by BT at May 31, 2002 08:03 AMSo is this a holiday? No one on the subway, no 25 previous guesses to the quiz two hours in . . .
Um . . . jaegermeister?
Posted by: hackly_fracture on May 31, 2002 10:23 AMStart of the World Cup, mate.
Posted by: scott on May 31, 2002 10:51 AMBudweiser?
Bayer aspirin?
Kolsch?
Posted by: teenidol on May 31, 2002 11:08 AMjagermeister was such a good guess. hackly gets full credit for being both funny and perhaps correct. but just in case s/he's not, i'm gonna piggyback:
rumplemintz.
Posted by: mlang on May 31, 2002 11:25 AMor maybe 'hamburger'.
Posted by: mlang on May 31, 2002 11:26 AMunless the answer is 'astroglide'.
speaking of which, why is gavin posting? shouldn't he be honeymooning? priorities, my friend. priorities.
Posted by: mlang on May 31, 2002 11:28 AMWrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, and extremely wrong.
Posted by: BT on May 31, 2002 11:56 AMThis game's stupid. I'm not playing anymore. Perhaps this "World Cup" thing Scott mentioned might be a cool alternative . . . is it a board game?
Oh, well, another guess: Birch Beer.
Given the tendency of the answers, Germany certainly has quite the reputation; I will say that the substance in question is non-alcoholic.
Posted by: BT on May 31, 2002 12:31 PMHey, the Birch Beer I always had was soda . . . probably not the real McCoy though.
Posted by: hackly_fracture on May 31, 2002 12:35 PMSarsparilla?
Posted by: Rory on May 31, 2002 12:37 PMgive us a hint, bt...
solid, liquid, or gas?
marijuana, cognac, or heptane?
Posted by: mlang on May 31, 2002 01:14 PMblackberry schnapps?
Posted by: mlang on May 31, 2002 01:15 PMsilly pütty?
Posted by: mlang on May 31, 2002 01:17 PMIt's legal to own (at least in this country), I have some in the apartment, and while some people I know have the equipment for making the stuff, most of us do with buying it ready-made.
It is not something that one cooks, although it is sometimes combined with other substances before consumption. In many cases, however, it is served, as it were, plain.
Posted by: BT on May 31, 2002 01:46 PMMuenster?
Posted by: scott on May 31, 2002 02:10 PMYogurt?
Posted by: scott on May 31, 2002 02:11 PMGavin has cleverly scheduled his honeymoon to start tomorrow so he can take one last bite at the Friday quiz apple.
Weinerschnitzel?
Some variety of vodka?
Bonn-Bonns?
Posted by: scott on May 31, 2002 03:10 PMA hint: neither animal nor, indeed, vegetable.
Posted by: BT on May 31, 2002 03:11 PMWater?
Posted by: bootsy on May 31, 2002 03:34 PM>>hint: neither animal nor, indeed, vegetable.
Postum?
Baco bits?
Licorice?
Iodine?
Posted by: boxjam on May 31, 2002 03:40 PMOoh, ooh Bootsy!
Seltzer? Sounds Germanic. . .
Can you make it with equipment?
Posted by: scott on May 31, 2002 03:47 PMglycerine?
(The real lyrics were:
Our old friend fear and you and me.
But I misheard them as:
Our old friend Phil and you and me.)
tangerine?
vaseline?
Posted by: teenidol on May 31, 2002 03:51 PMI gotta get going, but if it is seltzer, I can drink a lot of it in a day. Maybe $3.00 worth.
Let me also alert my friends to the piece on the back of the new issue of left niche mag "In These Times." Penned by me, ya see.
Seltzer it is! The little town of Nieder Selters was the origin of the word.
I raise a sparkling, all-natural glass to our winner and all of today's contestants!
Posted by: BT on May 31, 2002 04:07 PMis it kismet? kairos? serendipity? synchonicity? or are teen idol and gavin acquainted offline?
otherwise, i'm positively bowled over by the fact that one would post a mondegreen to the comment section of a weblog known to be frequently visited by none other than the original collector of mondegreens himself!
also, i think bootsy deserves at least a single serving of the product. perhaps mixed with some jaegermeister?
Posted by: mlang on May 31, 2002 04:43 PMI'm not the original! I'm just the most prolific.
Posted by: Gavin on May 31, 2002 05:24 PM> is it kismet? kairos? serendipity?
> synchonicity? or are teen idol and gavin
> acquainted offline?
twasn't an accident
The fact that I got Bush's "Gylcerine" when I was looking for the Flaming Lips' "She Don't Use Jelly" was.
Posted by: teenidol on May 31, 2002 05:59 PMA "Glycerine" mishearing:
"Bad moon wine again"
gets mangled into
"Batman watergun"
Posted by: Gavin on May 31, 2002 06:13 PMcon
Posted by: mlang on June 3, 2002 03:29 PMtent
Posted by: mlang on June 3, 2002 03:29 PM...
Posted by: mlang on June 3, 2002 03:29 PMcon
Posted by: mlang on June 3, 2002 03:29 PMtent
Posted by: mlang on June 3, 2002 03:30 PMwe want
Posted by: mlang on June 3, 2002 03:30 PMcontent!
Posted by: mlang on June 3, 2002 03:30 PM