spit-and-sawdust pub
- noun
- Archaic
:
bar de mala muerte
- We ducked into a spit-and-sawdust pub after the rain started, seeking warmth and cheap drinks.
Examples
-
She avoided the trendy bars and chose a spit-and-sawdust pub where the locals gathered.
-
The local spit-and-sawdust pub is always packed on weekends.
-
His friends preferred the charm of a spit-and-sawdust pub to a modern cocktail lounge.
-
I love the charm of a spit-and-sawdust pub.
-
His friends preferred the charm of a spit-and-sawdust pub to a modern cocktail lounge.
-
She avoided the trendy bars and chose a spit-and-sawdust pub where the locals gathered.
-
We ducked into a spit-and-sawdust pub after the rain started, seeking warmth and cheap drinks.
Synonyms
155
1.0
A place like a bar where people drink, eat, and talk
1
8.8
A cheap bar where people drink and are often rowdy
1
8.1
A pub or bar where people go to drink
A bar with the floor covered in sawdust that feels rough and informal
A cheap run-down bar where people drink and smoke
A cheap bar that sells alcohol where people go to drink and talk
Antonyms
A very fancy place that serves expensive, very good food and gives great service
How Plain
Surface Forms
Morphology
spit-and-sawdust + pub
The modifier 'spit-and-sawdust' is a lexicalized idiom referring to a cheap, rough drinking establishment; knowing the literal words 'spit' and 'sawdust' plus 'pub' does not allow a B1 learner to predict that meaning. This phrase is culturally and historically specific and functions as an idiomatic label, so its sense is not transparently derived from the constituents.
Etymology
Spit-and-sawdust pub comes from old pubs where the floor was covered with loose sawdust to soak spilled drinks and where men often spit tobacco, so the floor became a mix of spit and sawdust. That's why the phrase now means 'a simple, old-fashioned, often shabby pub'.