What ‘fancy a pint?’ really means
Back in the 1990s, a new comedy sketch show on British TV laid bare a nation’s habits and quirks.
One of the recurring sketches on “The Fast Show” would begin with a situation that was stressful, boring, uncomfortable, awkward – anything where the prospect of remaining there becomes increasingly unbearable.
As the pressure built, cast member and writer Paul Whitehouse would eventually look off-camera and ask, “Anyone fancy a pint?”
A significant proportion of “The Fast Show” sketches were filmed in pubs, because the pub is where British people meet and interact, with friends or strangers.
English literature more or less began in a pub, when Geoffrey Chaucer had the Pilgrims of “The Canterbury Tales” meet in the Tabard – the only type of place where his diverse cast of priest, miller, friar, clerk and all the others would ever realistically be in one place.… Seguir leyendo »