Somehow I knew that sooner or later my bibliography on fluid preservation would prove to be of some practical use. Little did I think it would be on Museum-L. But here you go--on an issue as critical as the spelling of whiskey or whisky, the only place to go is the source of sources, the Oxford English Dictionary. There you will find that the word is short for Whiskybae (Gaelic is Uisgebeatha, or 'water of life'). The OED says that "In modern trade usage, Scotch whisky and Irish whiskey are thus distinguished in spelling; whisky is the usual spelling in Britain and whiskey that in the U.S." It is worth noting that the first use of the word in English was in 1715: "in Maidment Bk. Scot. Pasquils (1868) 404 Whiskie shall put our brains in rage." Oh, but so true. Cheers, folks. --John John E. Simmons Collection Manager, Natural History Museum and Coordinator, Historical Administration and Museum Studies Program University of Kansas Dyche Hall 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7561 Phone 785-864-4508 FAX 785-864-5335 [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Panza, Robin [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2002 3:42 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Whiskey/Whisky (little museum content) The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (=American Language), second edition unabridged (1987) lists "whiskey", with its assorted definitions. Then there's "whiskey jack" (a bird), "Whiskey Rebellion" (a revolt), and "whiskey sour" (a drink). Finally, there's "whisky", whose sole and complete definition is "whiskey". Clearly, Random House believes the stuff has an "e" in it! Robin K Panza Section of Birds, Carnegie Museum of Natural History 4400 Forbes Ave. Pittsburgh PA 15213 USA phone: 412-622-3255 fax: 412-622-8837 [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Robert P. Martin [mailto:[log in to unmask]] I stand corrected on the controversial spelling of whiskey. It seems like there was once a hard-and-fast rule for this, but now people can add vowels to things willy-nilly! What is the world coming to? :) From now on, I'm going back to spelling it Uisce. Thanks, Jerry, for your correction. ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).