# Drinking laws in England **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-laws-in-england/840661 "2019-09-22T20:34:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-laws-in-england/840661/21 "2019-09-27T16:18:27Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > The drinking law in Britain that irritates me is the one posted in every barroom: “POUR THE DRINK BY EXACT MEASURE.” > > In the rest of the civilized world you can chat with the barkeep and he’ll give you a strong pour if he likes you. If you’re starting to slur your words he can give you a short pour. What’s the point of turning a bartender into a damn baker, with science measures? They use optics to measure shots, rather than pouring. The point is, presumably, to make sure when you buy an amount of drink, that’s what you get. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-laws-in-england/840661/22 "2019-09-27T17:00:06Z")
Fine, fine. Just give me a Large Gin. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-laws-in-england/840661/23 "2019-09-27T17:14:02Z")
That’ll be a double then. Tonic? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-laws-in-england/840661/24 "2019-09-27T17:19:42Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > That’ll be a double then. Tonic? Not a double. a shot. A _large_ shot. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-laws-in-england/840661/25 "2019-09-27T23:17:40Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I’m gonna slightly disagree with some of the other English posters here- I’m younger’n most of you, and they’re really starting to tighten up a bit now on underage drinking. > > Friends that are currently in their early 20s generally say that they never bought alcohol before 18, and react with surprise when I say I used to go to nightclubs from 16, possibly due to the penalty increases for selling it to underage kids which came in a few years ago. > > My own school (also a posh-type girls’ school) did have ‘cheese and wine’ evenings (I was in the choir, which performed at them, so my parents went despite it really not being their thing), but they certainly wouldn’t serve students under 18- they weren’t going to stop parents giving kids a sip, but they were definitely trying to stop even the 16-17 year olds from having a glass. At the time, there was one pub in town notorious for serving anyone who could stand up, best out of 3, and my school would occasionally send teachers there to check for underage students from their school; being found there would get you detention. A friend’s 15 year old kid got suspended for a week last year for bringing alcohol into school. > > Acceptance of underage drinking is still around, but there’s a pretty widespread attempt to tighten up. Agreed - it’s much more difficult to purchase alcohol now than it used to be. This is partly, like you say, due to much stricter punishments for those who sell alcohol to under-18s - even the person selling the booze gets a large fine, not just the company (shop, bar or supermarket) they work for. Though the InBetweeners did show that reasonably well; in the 90s, almost any off-licence would have sold booze to an older teenager without checking, but Will had to make a big effort to buy booze (and only managed it the once when they were underage IIRC). Also, from what I can tell from my daughter and nieces and nephews and friends’ kids, there are wide differences between different social groups - my daughter and her group of nerds never drank much at all (and all their parents would have been fine if they’d had the occasional drink; we even _gave_ them booze), but some other kids I know get pissed all the time. Will is nerdy but his friends aren’t. Parents condoning drinking at places like the caravan site is still pretty normal. I mean, we’re talking older teens, not 12-year-olds. Beer tokens at a school event would technically be legal but I’d be really surprised if many ordinary schools do that. So yeah, the Inbetweeners is somewhat realistic and does portray the legalities factually. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-laws-in-england/840661/26 "2019-09-27T23:20:35Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > The drinking law in Britain that irritates me is the one posted in every barroom: “POUR THE DRINK BY EXACT MEASURE.” > > In the rest of the civilized world you can chat with the barkeep and he’ll give you a strong pour if he likes you. If you’re starting to slur your words he can give you a short pour. What’s the point of turning a bartender into a damn baker, with science measures? Well, you can get more whiskey or whatever in your drink if you want, you just to have pay for extra shots. I guess the point is so that you know how much you’ve had to drink, so can judge if or when you’ll be safe to drive. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-laws-in-england/840661/27 "2019-09-28T07:11:57Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Well, you can get more whiskey or whatever in your drink if you want, you just to have pay for extra shots. I guess the point is so that you know how much you’ve had to drink, so can judge if or when you’ll be safe to drive. The point of the legislation around this is very much to stop bars giving short measure. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-laws-in-england/840661/28 "2019-09-30T22:58:58Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > The point of the legislation around this is very much to stop bars giving short measure. Yes - I remember having to justify it that way when I worked in a bar - but it does have other advantages. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-laws-in-england/840661.md?page=1)