Town Drunk

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:

    I do not speak with any fondness but the language of coolest history, when I say that Boston commands attention as the town which was appointed in the destiny of nations to lead the civilization of North America.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    Suddenly, she wasn’t drunk anymore. Her hand was steady and she was cool. Like somebody making funeral arrangements for a murder not yet committed.
    John Paxton (1911–1985)