I meant “check” – American for “bill.” (“Cheque” is, of course, British for “check.”)
And I should have clarified that the Online Etymology Dictionary is a reputable source. They “suggested” this historical development based on written evidence, not just some hunch.
But I’m not sure when the practice of giving bar customers a check for payment first arose. Remember, “shot” for a measure of spirits arose in the nineteenth century, at a time when many bar customers couldn’t read. Customer’s tallies were kept with chalk marks on a board; I don’t think anything was handed to the customer until (a) literacy was more widespread, and (b) bars generally used cash registered which generated a check. I think in the past you just asked the barman what you owed, he looked at the chalkboard and told you, and you paid it.
I’ll give it a shot. It’s the volume of drink you could consume in one shot.
Good point. Maybe by “tab” the OED* meant just what you said: a mark on a chalkboard. The act of doing that is a little more “shooting”-like than vigorously placing a piece of paper on a surface, anyway.
*No, not that OED.
As a slight aside, in Scotland whisky used to be served in standard measures of one-fifth of a gill (one fluid ounce) called a dram or a large dram (a quarter-gill).
Sadly since we went metric the normal measure is 25ml, which is smaller than the 28.4ml equivalent of the fifth of a gill.
There is a move to secure a change in the weights and measures law so that the dram can be brought back as the standard legal serving exclusively for Scotch.
Just so you know, DON’T try to order a shot of whisky in Scotland - order a dram.
Irrelevant but interesting aside.
The Schott company in Germany is a major manufacturer of specialty glasses. Although there are other companies (Ohara in Japan, Corming in the US), Schott is probably the most significant manufacturer of high-quality, well-characterized optical glass. If you buy from them, you can be assured of knowing the refractive index, Verdet constant, expansion coefficient, and other properties of your glass to a high and reproducible degree. For many years, Optical Engineers would be certain to have the multi-leaved folder of Schott Glass data, as well as little 3" X 5" plastic-bound pocket folders of Schott Glasses.
For optics guys, then, “Schott glass” had a very different meaning.
Schott ultimately realized this, and started making, as promotions, little “shot glasses” with the Schott logo imprinted on the side. True “Schott Glasses”. I looked on the 'net, but couldn’t find any of these on a quick search.
I did find, however, that through their crystal glass divisions, Schott is apparently making luxury shot glasses. True Schott glasses without the implied joke
http://www.pcfallon.com/p-8938-schott-zwiesel-pure-shot-glasses-set-of-6.aspx
http://crystal-glassware.com/related.php?product=schott-zwiesel
That’s all well and good, but you’ll still need ID if you want a shot.
I’ll maintain that “shot” has a long history as a middling-small amount of liquid dispensed with some vigor - from variations on “shot his wad” to “give that hinge a shot of oil” to “gimme a shot.” I can’t find any convincing evidence that it originated with or is specific to a small glass of liquor, and given the way a shot is poured by most bartenders, it fits right into the concept. I’d wager that it comes from artillery/firearm “shot” for just that same reason.
Is shot as in a go of related? “Give me a shot on your bicycle.”
“Shot” does have an archaic sense of “share”, according to the OED. Initially it referred to the share somebody was expected to contribute to some common project - what the individual would bring to the party, as it were - and it commonly referred to food or drink someone contributed to a banquet or similar. But it’s easy to see how the meaning could transition from the share of drink you bring to the party to the share of drink you expect to be given at the party, and from there to a standard share of drink.
Over the years, I have found Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words siteto be a good resource for this type of question.
Here’s Quinion’s take on shot.
Among other things, he notes that:
A shot of whisky, shows a rather different pattern. At least some of what your ngram is showing seems to be changing views about the proper spelling of “whisky”, or the popularity of Scotch versus Irish.
“Shot” in the context of spirits is a predominantly American usage, isn’t it? And I think whiskey is usually spelt with the ‘e’ in the US, unless the reference is explicitly to Scotch whisky. So “whiskey” in the US isn’t just Irish whiskey; it’s generic whiskey, or any particular whiskey that isn’t scotch.
NM
. . . and your suggested explanation was offered in post #8 and rejected in post #11.