Indians and their love for liquor just cannot be expressed. If you are an Indian, you know the importance of that uncle who brings the bottle of whisky duty-free. And when there is a drink, there has to be a ‘peg’. We all are aware of what ‘pegs’ are. It is the official standard unit for measuring drinks in India. We use this word every time we have to explain our liquor intake and it has also made it to some popular Bollywood songs. Patiala Peg is not new to us but why are drinks measured in pegs?
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Well, if you too have thought about it, you have come to the right place. Only a few people know that there is an interesting story associated with how the word ‘peg’ came to being. If some legends are to be believed, the word Peg expands to ‘Precious Evening Glass’. This word has an age-old story associated with its origin. It is believed that the mine workers in the United Kingdom used to have their drink after a long day of work and thus, the drink was referred to as the ‘Precious Evening Glass’.
In the United Kingdom, the mine workers after a long day of work were given a small bottle of brandy to relax. It was also given to the workers to provide them warmth in the bone-chilling cold. The mine workers used to wait for the drink eagerly and used to call it the ‘Precious Evening Glass’. This was later addressed as Peg. This theory is not documented anywhere but is quite popular.
Then, during the British Raj, drinks were measured in just two units. One was 30 ml for a small peg and 60 ml for a large peg. Initially, the term was used because it was convenient but later it became part of a culture. Today, those who don’t even know the basics about drinks or alcohol, know that it is measured in ‘peg’. Interesting isn’t it??