The town drunk (also called a tavern fool) is a stock character, almost always male, who is drunk more often than sober.
The town drunk typically dwells in a small enough town that he is the only conspicuous alcoholic. Larger cities may have more than one, but this term appears to come from around the 17th century; in the stereotype, when a city grows large enough to house a sufficient mass of town drunks, the area where they congregate becomes known as Skid Row.
Read more about Town Drunk: Uses in Fiction, Antecedents
Famous quotes containing the words town and/or drunk:
“When, in some obscure country town, the farmers come together to a special town meeting, to express their opinion on some subject which is vexing to the land, that, I think, is the true Congress, and the most respectable one that is ever assembled in the United States.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Cole Thornton: What happened?
Nelse McLeod: What usually happens to a man—a woman. Seems like he tangled with some wanderin’ petticoat. He’s been drunk ever since.”
—Leigh Brackett (1915–1978)