One legend claims drinks leftover at close of business in taverns and bars were poured into a large ceramic rooster. Those strapped for cash could purchase a pint of the swill that flowed from a tap in the rooster's tail.

Another source claims a tap in colonial America was called a cock and the dregs, or bottom of the brew, a tail. One disgusted customer, after tasting the filth, loudly exclaimed he'd stick to cocktails of his own origin, and concocted his own mixed drinks.

I hope they were strong.

A cocktail is also a term for a mixed-breed horse with a bobbed tail. The term cocktail might allude to the mixed drink, or to the assertion the drink was strong enough to "cock the tail" of anyone who drank.

The term might also derive from something called "cock ale," a strong alcoholic mixture fed to fighting cocks to whip them into fighting spirit. The same drink was sold to the crowd.

Cockfighting is now illegal; thank God cocktails aren't. Order one and leave us be.