Monday, August 24, 2009

what do the letters bws stand for?





in australia and new zealand, the term "byo" (bring your 0wn) emerged to describe establishments that had special liquor licences allowing guests to bring their own bottle of wine. it is believed that restaurants in melbourne, in the state of victoria, were advertising as "byo" establishments by the 1960s, with the concept becoming popular in new zealand in the late 1970s.

in other parts of the world, corkage is a practice of restaurants where guest are allowed to bring their own bottles by paying a small charge to the restaurant. (from wikipedia)

when i was in australia recently, i came across a number of establishments advertising 'bws'. what do these 3 letters stand for?

sorry, phil (of sydney), you are barred from taking part in this quiz.

6 comments:

pinto said...

Hmmmm... no idea! But I'd like to know.

Anonymous said...

It refers to an Australian retail chain of liquor stores, owned by Woolworths Limited. There are about 600 such stores around Australia. Their motto "Your local bottleshop" - BWS ( Beer Wine Spirits )

pinto said...

Ah! I studied in Melbourne for two years and had not noticed this. Probably too preoccupied with what was inside the bottle shops!

yg said...

coincidentally, i took this picture when i was in melbourne. it was a shop near the junction of jells road and ferntree gully road, just after the wheelers hill shopping centre.

Victor said...

Bottles with spirits? Answer here.

Uncle Phil said...

Woolie is also owner of the liquor outlet Dan Murphy.

Cheers, (Yam Sheng)
Phil