User:Equinox/half past seven is the bottom of the barrel

Preserved for fun, as the only "fake" entry I have ever created, among probably 10,000s of good ones.

English

Etymology

From the Victorian era in England, where public houses were obliged to close in the early evening.

Proverb

half past seven is the bottom of the barrel

1. That's the end; it's over; there is nothing more profitable to be done.
   • 1844, Jane Whittard, Athena's Lament; Or: The Descent of a Man (page 133)

     Jack threw the man a sovereign. "That should suffice for tonight. And if you want more—"
     "Oh, aye, and half past seven is the bottom of the barrel," said the tar, turning away in disgust.

   • 1899, Ronald Flounder, Memoirs from the Tropics (page 18)

     The men swallowed the rum like water, and the captain frowned. "A Spanish vessel gives no licence to behave like barbarians," said he, "and half past seven is the bottom of the barrel. There shall be no fighting on the deck tonight."