It was the accepted practice in Babylonia 4,000 years ago that for a month
 after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the
 mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was
 lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as
 the "honeymoon".
 
 Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger into
 the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast. Too cold, and the
 yeast wouldn't grow. Too hot, and the yeast would die. This thumb in the beer
 is where we get the phrase "rule of thumb". 
 
 In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when
 customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints
 and quarts and settle down. A variation has pub owners reminding their
 barmaids to keep an eye on exactly who was drinking what and how much. Either
 way, it's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's".
 
 Beer was the reason the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. It's clear from the
 Mayflower's log that the crew didn't want to waste beer looking for a better
 site. The log goes on to state that "them passengers were hastened ashore and
 made to drink water that the seamen might have the more beer".
 
 After consuming a bucket or two of vibrant brews they called aul, or ale the
 Vikings would head fearlessly into battle often without armor or even shirts.
 In fact, the term "berserk" means "bare shirt" in Norse, and eventually took
 on the meaning of their wild battles.
 
 In 1740, Admiral Vernon of the British fleet decided to water down the Navy's
 rum. Needless to say, the sailors weren't too pleased and called Admiral
 Vernon, Old Grog, after the stiff wool grogram coats he wore. The term "grog"
 soon began to mean the watered down drink itself. When you were drunk on this
 grog, you were "groggy", a word still in use today.
 
 Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or
 handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle
 to get some service. "Wet your whistle", is the phrase inspired by this
 practice.
 
 In the Middle Ages, "nunchion" was the word for liquid lunches. It was a
 combination of the words "noon scheken", or noon drinking. In those days, a
 large chunk of bread was called lunch. So if you ate bread with your nunchion,
 you had what we still today call a luncheon.