I saw a thread today discussing Whole Foods, and a line of cheap wine nicknamed ‘three buck chuck’. I was very surprised to realise this name was not meant in a derogatory sense. I couldn’t figure how this could be, until I saw a later post that it came from a specific brand name, Charles Shaw, so I see where the Chuck comes from.
However, the reason for my confusion is that in Australia (but apparently not in the States), Chuck is a colloquialism for vomit. If an Australian tells you he has some two buck chuck, I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole, because it is going to be the cheapest wine that will get you drunk and more than likely make you spew.
Two Buck Chuck was a type of wine introduced by Trader Joe’s. It’s from Charles Shaw winery. Chuck is a nickname for Charles in the US and probably Oz too. I am not a wine drinker but it’s supposedly very good for the price.
Charles Shaw wine from Trader Joe’s. It was (is?) $2.99 in California, where it earned the name “Two Buck Chuck”, but here it’s $3.99, thanks to a further distance and more alcohol taxes to be paid from winery to wine shelf.
“Chuck” isn’t a common word here (Chicago, US) for vomit. “Upchuck,” perhaps, but it’s the kind of word your grandmother would use to be polite. Most of us would use “throw up”, “hurl,” or even “heave” if we’re using slang.
In America, Chuck is a not-uncommon nickname for Charles (e.g. animator Chuck Jones, rock & roller Chuck Berry). It’s also a slang word for “toss” or “throw” (often but not always meaning “toss out” or “throw away”: “That milk’s past its expiration date—better chuck it.”) Upchuck, however, is a fairly common colloquialism for vomit.
When someone is describing Two Buck Chuck to an Aussie as being acceptable, the Aussie should take this comment in the same spirit as someone saying “Fosters is surprisingly drinkable.”
I’m the guy who brought up Charles Shaw in the Whole Foods thread, so I’d like to comment. The question has been pretty much answered already. I’m sure that they called it “Two Buck Chuck” for the familiarity and the rhyming, although, with inflation, it’s apparently Three Buck Chuck now, everywhere.
as noted, “chuck” by itself doesn’t mean “vomit” in the US. It’s often used to mean “throw” (“Chuck it in the bin”. “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck…”). So it’s not surprising that Americans use “upchuck” for “throw up”. But not “chuck”
In fact, over-awareness of “chuck” = “vomit” would make a lot of differences in American speech. Who’d want to eat from a Chuck Wagon if it meant “vomit wagon”. We probably wouldn’t have a dog food called “Chuck Wagon” if that were the case.
“Pumpkin Chunkin’” (which only gets that extra “n” from the rhyme) would have an entirely different meaning, and so wouldn’t be used. We might not have “chuck keys” to lock our drill bits in place.
Come to think of it. what nickname do Aussies use for Charles?
The white is a decent inexpensive table wine. If you’re looking for a passable wine to serve cold and in volume you’re unlikely to do much better at twice the price. The red is very basic, but certainly not the worst you can find. Paying 200% more will get you a better wine, but not everyone has the money or cares about the difference in taste.
This isn’t ripple, it’s just basic wine produced in volume at low cost. There’s nothing complex about it, nor is there anything really wrong with it.
Wait, that doesn’t work.
Anyway, yeah, cheap wine from Trader Joe’s. I thought, originally at least, it was decent wine that they had too much of, maybe because of a bountiful grape harvest. (Well, for some value of “decent” anyway.)
I thought chunder was Australian for vomit. How many words do you need?
JK, it’s vomit, the funniest of all human effluvia (assuming it’s coming out of a drunk frat boy, not, for example, yourself). There can’t be too many words for it.
I couldn’t figure how this could be, until I saw a later post that it came from a specific brand name, Charles Shaw, so I see where the Chuck comes from.
