According to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, every alien race in the universe has independently invented an intoxicating drink called ‘jinantonix’ or at least something that sounds very similar.
According to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, every alien race in the universe has independently invented an intoxicating drink called ‘jinantonix’ or at least something that sounds very similar. It’s an idea which probably arose from the fact that, phonetically, ‘Gin & Tonic’ (or more often ‘Gin-Tonic’) is on a par with ‘OK’ or ‘Coca-Cola’ in being understood in every country on earth. Even languages which use a word for beer that sounds nothing like ‘beer’ generally refer to a ‘jintonic’, meaning that ‘jinantonix’ may well be the only four syllables guaranteed to get you an alcoholic drink in every bar on the planet.
Are there any exceptions? If anyone knows a language (Estonian? Arapaho?) where the word for Gin & Tonic is pronounced nothing like Jinantonix, then send a tweet and I’ll be delighted to report back — just use the hashtag #gintonic.
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