stagger soup
Stagger soup is a North American slang term for whisky — typically cheap, rough, or strongly intoxicating whisky.
Definitions
Stagger soup is a North American slang term for whisky — typically cheap, rough, or strongly intoxicating whisky. The name captures the practical effect of drinking enough of it: you stagger. It belongs to the colourful tradition of American frontier and working-class slang for alcohol, alongside terms like 'rotgut,' 'firewater,' and 'skull-cracker.' The register is informal, humorous, and slightly self-aware about the beverage's antisocial potential.
He poured two glasses of stagger soup from a bottle with no label and said it was from a local still.
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(North America, slang) whisky.
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Semantically related
- electric soup63%
(Scotland, slang) Strong fortified wine.
- rolling61%
; intoxicated from alcohol, staggering.
- stoated60%
British slang, particularly used in Scotland and the north of England, meaning thoroughly drunk. When someone is stoated, they've had far too much and are likely bouncing off walls — which may well be the origin, as 'stoat' in Scottish English can mean to stagger or bounce. The word has a satisfying bluntness to it, painting a picture of someone who is not just merry but genuinely off-balance and unsteady on their feet.
- stirabout59%
Stirabout is an Irish English term that does double duty. In its most literal sense, it refers to porridge — the traditional oat-based breakfast that you, well, stir about while it cooks. It's a humble, working-class food word with deep roots in Irish rural life. In its second meaning, stirabout describes a commotion or noisy fuss — the kind of drama where everyone's talking at once and nothing is getting resolved. Both senses share the same energy: something in constant, turbulent motion that never quite settles.