I’m copyediting a novel by a British author set (partly) in America and produced by an American publisher, so I’m keeping an eye out for unnecessary/awkward Britishisms. An American character in a downtown Chicago hotel bar orders and drinks a few sips of a beer, then leaves the bar for a time and comes back to find his drink gone. He asks the bartender about it, and the bartender says, “I’m sorry, sir, I just tipped it out. Thought you were gone.”
Granted, I’m no barfly, but I’ve never heard this phrase. My ear tells me the bartender would say he dumped it or tossed it, or even poured it out. Googling hasn’t shed any light.
Preliminary asking around elsewhere seems to indicate that this is indeed common usage in British English. There’s no indication that the bartender is supposed to be British, so I think we can assume that he’s American, as the protagonist has made a point of noting others with British accents.
There is also the consideration that “tipping out” has a specific meaning in the restaurant/bar biz, namely sharing tips in some way among the staff. So that may be a momentary tripping point for readers.
Yes, one can figure out what the bartender means, but I’m wondering if an American bartender would say this.
Thanks in advance for helping me write an informed query to the author.
It’s an obvious reference to dumping the beer, but a colloqualism that is very unlikely to be used anywhere in America, unless perhaps the bartender was in fact British.
The fact that “tipping out” is so prevalent in restaurant parlance to mean “sharing gratuities” is what is causing the confusion. Clearly the bartender got rid of the drink because he thought the patron wasn’t coming back for it.
Unless of course the bartender is a cheap ass and “tipped out” his barback or busser a warm, half-drunk beer instead of cash!
Okay, in that case the bartender WOULD apologize and say something like, “I’m sorry sir. I didn’t think you were returning and I poured it out.” But at five bucks a draft your guess is as good as mine if he’d replace it for free. If he saw a tip coming because of his charity, yes. If he saw you to be a deadbeat like me, no. (“But it’s Heineken, sir.”)
I love it when British writers DON’T ask a Yank to fix their writing.
And he’d have a slight accent somewhere between Oxford and New Delhi. Real Chicagoans are decidedly déclassé and are likely to tell a complainer to fuck off, so they wouldn’t be hired by a high-rent establishment.
Well, it’s not a matter of “fixing his writing,” it’s a matter of making Americans sound realistic in a book intended for an American audience. Most of us don’t talk as if the Queen were our Aunt Betty.
No, I just didn’t want to say “published by an American publisher,” and it was late and that was the first rewrite I thought of that wasn’t repetitive. (Actually, there are production editors, whose job is to schlep the book through design, copyediting, author review, typesetting, proofreading, and printing, so yeah, I guess you can say that they’re produced.)
stolichnaya: Well, let’s just say he’s under stress, and making the most of his beer dollar isn’t the first thing on his mind.
While I agree that the word “tipped” would never be used like that by an American bartender, the part that’s just awkward to me is the whole situation. I don’t think anyone here would leave their drink in a bar and expect it to be sitting there when he returned. Not even for a trip to the bathroom or a step outside to smoke! You’d expect it to be gone when you got back, and the bartender wouldn’t think there’s anything to explain. *Especially *in a four star situation, where they’re constantly tidying up.
But yeah, if it’s beyond your scope to change the action, at least change the word. Drop the “sir,” too, unless the bartender is very young and the patron very scary and/or old. We’re a pretty casual lot here. “Man”, as in, “Sorry, man, I just dumped it,” would ring a lot truer. Or “buddy”. Lots of “buddies” in Chicago.
WhyNot,
Chicagoan,
been to a few bars in my day, all sorts of stars.
I would expect the bartender to say something like "Oh, sorry, I thought you left. " and skip the details of how they disposed of your precious drink. Sorta like, “Oh, sorry we thought your cat was an alley cat. I’m afraid she’s gone.” instead of “Sorry sir, we put her in a gunny sack and took her down to the canal.” If that makes sense.
I’ve seen people leave their drinks at the bar often enough, to go to the bathroom, make a call, etc. (I’ve even had a couple bitch at us for taking their seats at the bar, since obviously their drinks are still there. But that was out by Oak Brook). But it wouldn’t be a long absence, and I wouldn’t expect a true barfly to fuss with the bartender over half a beer.
I’ve heard my son say “the waitresses tipped me out before I left”, meaning they shared their tips with him (when he was bar-backing or bussing or what have you).
The British use would not happen in Chicago. He needs to go all the way though…“I tipped it into the dustbin” would complete the picture!
Smokers often go out for a smoke halfway through a pint, yes, but they usually tell the bartender this, so he or she doesn’t think they’ve run off without paying. That’s what’s throwing me off here… did the bartender think the customer had just d&d’ed, so he threw out the rest of the customer’s drink?
OK, since we’re hung up on “Why did the guy think his drink would still be there” thing . . . He didn’t, really. He’s just having a really shitty day, he had to leave the bar (for about 15-20 minutes, so yes, quite a long time in bar minutes) because of the shitty stuff that’s happening to him, and he acknowledges in his inner dialogue that he knows he’s taking it out on the bartender.
Yes, I have almost no ability to change the plot, but I can make minor suggestions. I’m willing to overlook the “sir” thing; maybe the bartender IS young/new and trying to appease somebody who’s obviously a decent guy having a bad day. And the plot requires that he talk to the bartender after this incident, so in this case the bartender does make nice and pours him a new beer.
It’s not mentioned, but I imagine he paid for the beer when he received it. He didn’t ask for a tab, and without a tab the usual protocol is to pay for each drink out of the cash you’ve slapped on the bar, right?
Not necessarily. If he’s talking to the bartender, that means he’s sitting at the bar. So he goes in, sits at the bar, orders a beer. In my experience at hotel bars, the bartender sometimes brings the check with the drink, but usually brings the check a few minutes later. The check (either in one of those leather folders or just a slip of paper that looks like a receipt) will sit on the bar until I decide to pay it. If I know I’m going to be there a while, and it’s not horribly busy, I’ll usually let the check sit until I’m done with my drink(s), and then pay.
I also don’t think that it’s unusual for the bartender in a decent hotel to refer to a patron as “sir,” particularly if the character is at least in his thirties. Frankly, I’d just have the bartender say, “Sorry, sir. I cleared your glass – thought you were gone.” And then pour a fresh one.
