a little of the creature

English

Alternative forms

• a leetle of the creater (obsolete)
• a little of the critter

Pronunciation

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Noun

a little of the creature (uncountable)

1. (US and Scotland, colloquial) A small drink of alcoholic spirits.

   Synonym: nip

   • 1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of, Nebraska, published 1987, page 42:

     So I took ‘a leetle of the creater’ – that warmer of the cold, and cooler of the hot, – and it made me feel so good that I concluded it was like the negro's rabbit, ‘good any way.’

   • 1853, Anna Maria Collins, Mrs. Ben Darby, page 23:

     Nothing; only it is poor sport to go on a dub without a little of the critter.

   • 1836, “Legends of Blarney Castle”, in The Knickerbocker, volume VIII:

     And when he met her, he told her what he came about, and said that he never would mind what the women prayed for, but it was greatly against his health to be obliged to drink his wine and whiskey raw, and he'd a longing desire for a little of the creature neatly mixed up with lemon and sugar, and water [...].

Translations

a small drink of alcoholic spirits

• Scottish Gaelic: té bheag f