Where Can You Ask the Barman for a Pint of Piddle?

Times change, and with them the meanings of certain words and their popularity changes too.

In the middle of the South Coast of England in the county of Dorset, lie a number of villages in the valley of the River Piddle. The word "piddle" is slang for "urinate", and rumor has it that when Queen Victoria came to visit the area, the names of some of the villages were changed to avoid royal embarrassment.

Several of these villages where the names were changed are Puddletown (formerly Piddletown) which was featured in the novel Far From The Madding Crowd by local author Thomas Hardy, and Tolpuddle (formerly Tolpiddle) which was the home of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, a group who formed a trades union, which was illegal at that time, and who were deported to Australia for their crime.

Some of the smaller villages have retained their names through the years however, including Piddlehinton and Piddletrenthide, but in recent years the use of the word "piddle" has been used to help stimulate business and tourism in the area.

One of these innovative companies is the Dorset Piddle Brewery , near the village of Piddlehinton, and which has a unique marketing strategy for their local beers.

Their list of beers includes some great slang English words for urinating, such as Piddle, Jimmy Riddle, Silent Slasher, and they also brew one called Yogi Beer.

Part of the fun of ordering one of their beers is to ask the barman for a "pint of piddle" or something similar, and their gift shop sells t-shirts with phrases like "I do like a good piddle".

It's good to see that out of old English words and Victorian embarrassment, comes the opportunity for entrepreneurs to prosper, and to bring merriment (albeit alcohol laced) to a growing local tourist industry, in one of the most historic parts of England.

Sources:

River Piddle on Wikipedia

Puddletown on Wikipedia

Tolpuddle on Wikipedia

Dorset Piddle Brewery