One over the Eight by Foxymoron

 

The earliest instance of the above phrase, meaning having too much to drink, I can find is the following, in a Surrey weekly on Friday 15th August 1919:

“ONE OVER THE EIGHT.”—At the Reigate Bench, on Monday, Frederick Powell, of Providence-terrace, London-road, Reigate, was charged with being drunk and disorderly on Saturday night.—P.C. Kimber proved the case.—Prisoner told the Court that he met an old uncle and had one or two drinks. He added “I suppose I got one over the eight, and I suppose I became a little quarrelsome.”—Fined 5s.

It appears to derive from military slang. One over the eight is nine of course. Which reminds me "why is six wary of seven?" Because seven ate nine, of course. But back to bridge. The nine capturing the eight was the theme of this hand from the EBU summer SIMs.

I opened Four Spades as dealer, North, and Roy Cooper, East, exercised prudence for the first time in his life and passed, so 4S became the final contract. They avoided the fate that befell Anne Catchpole and Ken Barnett who went to 5H over 4S and went for 1400.

Roy found the testing club lead and Harvey Fox, West, did well to play three rounds, giving North a dilemma. If East has three spades it does not matter what you do, but what if East only has two? Now it is right to ruff with the seven, and when East overruffs with the queen, you play for split honours and run the ten on the second round. When it is covered, the eight falls under the nine on the third round of the suit.  You will need the diamond finesse, of course, but the eight of spades is 3-2 on to be with the assumed three-card suit.

In last week's poser, the nine of spades also comes into the picture. In Four Spades, after two rounds of hearts, the right line is to lead a low spade from dummy, and if the queen of spades holds, as it did, then you play low to the ten, even if South shows out. North can win the king of spades and force dummy again, but you ruff with the ace of spades, discarding a losing club from hand. All you lose is two trumps and a heart. Other attempts such as prematurely releasing the ace of spades are fatal.