Recipe nº1: Disaster

cock•tail

noun

1. any of various short mixed drinks, consisting typically of gin, whiskey, rum, vodka, or brandy, with different admixtures, as vermouth, fruit juices, or flavorings, usually chilled and frequently sweetened.

2. any eclectic mixture or miscellaneous collection.

origin

1800-10, Americanism; origin obscure; none of numerous attempts to explain the origin of this word have won general acceptance.

(dictionary.com)

Fun fact: "Cocktail", translated into French, is cocktail (insert funny French pronunciation here).

Fun fact #2: In English, we use the first part of the word "cocktail" as a euphemism for male genitalia; conversely, in French, it is the equivalent of "tail", or queue, that fulfills this important purpose. I suppose "tail" has its share of lewd possibilities, but, and correct me if I'm wrong, I'm fairly sure that en français, un coq is just a chicken.

I hereby begin my ramblings on the american-who-wants-to-be-french experience, and I hope to someday entertain as many as three people. But for now, this one's for you, Diaryofwhy!