Dictionary

branch water en · NOUN

Etymology

First recorded in 1835; branch (“creek”) + water, a stream of clean drinkable water.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) Plain water, especially when mixed with alcoholic beverage.
   • Tully ordered Tennessee whisky, assented to the supposition that the gentleman didn't want mixer, ice, or chaser. "Yes sir — always say, If the good Lord wanted branch water in liquor, He would have put it there." 1962, Joyleg, By Ward Moore, Avram Davidson, page 30
   • Pour me some bourbon and branch water.
   • To make their beverage even more attractive, the Americans mixed their alcohol not only with the usual branch water, but also with black chewing tobacco, red peppers, Jamaica ginger, black molasses, and other strong substances. 1958, The Blackfeet; Raiders on the Northwestern Plains, by John Canfield Ewers, page 258
   • I play no favorites as between coffee and tea-—I am a Bourbon and branch-water man myself—but I suggest that in History's long view the Greensboro Coffee Party may loom as large as the Boston Tea Party. 1960, Flying Magazine - May 1960 - "Doughnuts and Democracy" by Marion A. Wright, at Page 278

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