Dictionary

wet the shamrock en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˌwɛt ðə ˈʃæmɹɒk/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio
• /ˌwɛt ðə ˈʃæmˌɹɑk/ (General-American)

Etymology

From wet (“to celebrate by drinking alcohol”) + the + shamrock (“trefoil leaf of any small clover, especially Trifolium repens, or a clover-like plant, commonly used as a symbol of Ireland”), from the custom, also known as drowning the shamrock, of removing a shamrock worn on one’s clothing on Saint Patrick’s Day and placing it at the bottom of a glass which is then filled with an alcoholic beverage and consumed; according to some authorities the shamrock is then retrieved from the empty glass and thrown over the left shoulder.

Meanings

1. (Ireland, idiomatic, informal, intransitive) To go for an alcoholic drink, especially as part of a victory celebration or on Saint Patrick's Day.
   • The Meadovv Trefoyls are called in Iriſh Shamrocks, […] The VVord Seamar Leaune and Seamar-orge, being in ſignification the ſame, […] This Plant is vvorn by the People in their Hats upon the 17. Day of March yearly, (vvhich is called St. Patrick’s Day.) […] Hovvever that be, vvhen they vvet their Seamar-oge, they often commit Exceſs in Liquor, vvhich is not a right keeping of a Day to the Lord; Error generally leading to Debauchery. [1727, Caleb Threlkeld, “TRIFOLIUM PRATENSE ALBUM, White Flowered Meadow Trefoyl.”, in Synopsis stirpium Hibernicarum alphabetic[a]e dispositarum. Sive commentatio de plantis indigenis præsertim Dublinensibus instituta. Being a Short Treatise of Native Plants, especially Such as Grow Spontaneously in the Vicinity of Dublin; […], Dublin: […] S. Powell, for the author; and are to be sold by T. Sanders, […], →OCLC, signature [K8], verso:
   • He [Caleb Threlkeld] refers to the custom of wetting the shamrock. 1878 March 16, “The Library. St Patrick’s Day.”, in The Bazaar, the Exchange and Mart, and Journal of the Household, volume XVIII, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 173, column 3:
   • We remembered friends at home in our potations, wet the shamrock, and sang the "Wearing of the Green." 1885, James McQuade, “St. Kitt’s”, in The Cruise of the Montauk to Bermuda, the West Indies and Florida, New York, N.Y.: Thomas R. Knox & Co. successors to James Miller […], →OCLC, page 120:
   • St. Patrick's Day passed off very quietly indeed, partly owing to the uncertainty of the weather. A number of the militia men wetted the shamrock so much that they forgot the legitimate use of their weapons, and employed them in knocking people on the head. A few threw their rifles away. 1888 May, “News and Notes. The Month.”, in The Australian Journal: A Family Newspaper of Literature, Science, and the Arts, volume XXIII, number 276, Melbourne, Vic.: A. H. Massina & Co., […], →OCLC, page 519, column 1:
   • In the days of our forefathers it was always customary to wet the shamrock, and indeed this good old custom has by no means become obsolete. And to carry it into effect, the saint's [Saint Patrick's] health is drunk in the morning from a brimming bowl called "Paddy's pot," which has a very inspiring influence, and is considered to be an excellent preliminary for the joys of the day; […] 1869 March 13, R. C., “Notes. St. Patrick’s Day: The Shamrock and Shillelah”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, etc., volume III (4th Series), number 63, London: […] George Andrew Spottiswoode, […] [for] William Greig Smith, […], →OCLC, page 235, column 1:
   • Given long-standing drinking customs among the Irish at home and abroad, temperance was a difficult prospect. Traditions such as drinking to the health of Ireland and the patron saint, as well as the renowned ‘wetting the shamrock’ held considerable sway on St Patrick's Day. 2002, Mike Cronin, Daryl Adair, “Famine and Exodus”, in The Wearing of the Green: A History of St Patrick’s Day, London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, published 2006, →ISBN, page 40:
   • [T]he crowd drifted away towards the hotel in search of something to wet the shamrock and warm themselves up. Unlike America, there was no green beer and no one I knew would dream of adding anything to their pint unless it was to tip in a shot of whiskey. 2010, Claire Hopper, “Wetting the Shamrock”, in A Fine Irish Season, [Morrisville, N.C.]: [Lulu.com], →ISBN, page 65:

Forms

Relateds

wet one's whistle · wet one's beak · wet the other eye · wet the baby's head

Translations (1)

fi mennä ryyppäämään (to go for an alcoholic drink, especially as part of a victory celebration or on Saint Patrick’s Day)

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