A drink. To smile, to take a drink.
1850. Hast ta’en a “smile” at Brigham’s.—Poem before the Iadma, p. 7: B. H. Hall, ‘College Words, &c.,’ p. 434 (1856).
1852. Boasting upon his upturned diaphram, I imbibed a final “smile” to my own health, left my allies “alone in their glory,” and gained my cot, with, as a passing glance at the mirror told me, an eye somewhat moist, a cheek slightly rosy, and just a thought of unsteadiness in my gait.—Yale Lit. Mag., xvii. 144 (Feb.).
1855. The “crowd” was invited into the hotel, and one general smile entirely absorbed the [wedding] fee.—N.Y. Tribune, Jan. 31 (Bartlett).
1861. If we except the bibulous indulgence sometimes known by that name, I have not seen a man smile since I have been here.—Knick. Mag., lviii. 174 (Aug.).
1865. The man in the office [at the Tremont House] never smiles—in any point of view.—G. H. Derby (‘John Phœnix’), ‘The Squibob Papers, p. 140.
1870. This ‘gentleman’ made his appearance, and, after a few preliminary remarks, asked me to ‘smile.’ I had learned by experience that this is the slang phrase for ‘taking a drink.’ I ‘smiled’ all the more readily because the morning was intensely cold, the pools of water being coated with ice.—Rae, ‘Westward by Rail,’ p. 337 (Lond.).
1888. We took a smile of old Bourbon apiece.—Chicago Inter-Ocean, Feb. 6 (Farmer).
1890. Let’s go over the way and take a smile first, and then we’ll see about it.—Van Dyke, ‘Millionaires of a Day,’ p. 148.
