subs. (colloquial).—A glass of bitter ale: cf. BASS, etc. Hence to do a bitter = to drink beer.
1853. REV. E. BRADLEY (‘Cuthbert Bede’), The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman, 1st., III., ch. x. Mr. Verdant Green and Mr. Bouncer … turned into the coffee-room of ‘The Mitre,’ TO DO BITTERS, as Mr. Bouncer phrased the act of drinking bitter beer.
c. 1882. Comic Song, ‘The West End Boys,’ 3. Known by the title of the West End Boys. They commence their evening with cigars. And ‘How-d’ye-do, dear,’ at the bars. ‘Another BITTER, I really can’t go.’
1893. H. CRACKANTHORPE, Wreckage, 125. Mary, two BITTERS and a small Scotch to the Commercial Room, and a large Irish for Mr. Hays here.
