Like most Brits, Cumbrians like an occasional visit to the pub (tavarn) to have a drink and a chat. The word tavarn has a broader meaning than English pub and includes inns and bars as well. The word bar is used to refer to the counter where alcohol is sold and occasionally to establishments selling alcohol.
Within a bar or pub you are likely to get served by a tavarnur publican, barur barman, barwrek barmaid or gweynídh waiter.
What are you having?
The easiest way to ask for a drink is to use moys give me followed by the order, which is less impolite than it sounds. You may want to order your favourite tipple by the glass (gwidrinn), the bottle (botel), the pint (pint), half-pint (hanter pint) or dram (bann).
Some common alcoholic drinks include:
- curuv ale or beer – the general term for a drink brewed from malted barley
- lager lager
- curuv-porthor porter
- stoot stout
- gwin wine
- gwin roudh red wine
- gwin gwinn white wine
- gwin rossok rosé wine
- gwin aoorlon sparkling wine
- saidir cider
- ooske whisky or whiskey
- nans, brandy brandy
- jenever gin
- vodka, bodka vodka
- rummul rum
- sack sherry
- gwirodyon spirits
- coktehel cocktail
So you might want to say moys pint o guruv, os de vodh give me a pint of beer please, or moys botel o win gwinn give me a bottle of white wine.
If you’ve had a hard day you might ask for a rummul dowblik double rum or even a vodka triblik triple vodka, either gant ya with ice or hep ya without ice.
Or, if you’re sticking with the soft stuff:
- duwr water
- duwr aoorlon sparkling water
- cola cola
- curuv-limon lemonade
- curuv-jinjer ginger beer, ginger ale
- Irn Bru Irn Bru™
- sàs sarsaparilla
- sougun (oreng) (orange) juice
- duwr tonik tonic water
- duwr soda soda water
Some of these can be used as mixers, in which case you’d use gant with followed by lenition, as in jenever gant donik gin and tonic, gwin gwinn gant soda white wine and soda, rummul gant gola rum and coke.
Cumbraek 