Half-and-half, subs. (colloquial).—Equal quantities of ale and porter; Cf., Four-half and Drinks.
1824. Reynolds, Peter Corcoran, 41. Over my gentle half-and-half.
1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 111. We were never tired of wondering how the hackney-coachmen on the opposite stand could … drink pots of half-and-half so near the last drop. [[249]]
1841. Albert Smith (in Punch). ‘The Physiology of the London Medical Student.’ Half-and-half … is … ale and porter, the proportion of the porter increasing in an inverse ratio to the respectability of the public house you get it from.
1854. Martin and Aytoun, Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘My Wife’s Cousin.’ Half-and-half goes down before him, Gurgling from the pewter-pot; And he moves a counter motion For a glass of something hot.
1872. Fun, July. ‘The Right Tap.’ If the lever, meaning a plumper, were labelled ‘stout,’ and those recording a split vote half and half, the illusion would be complete.
Adj. (common).—Half-drunk; half-on (q.v.). For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.
1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London. Half and half, half seas over, tipsy.
Half-and-half-coves (or men, boys, etc.), subs. (old).—Cheap or linsey-woolsey dandies; half-bucks (q.v.) and half-tigers (q.v.).
1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 7. Jerry. The half-and-half coves are somewhat different from the swaddies, and gay tyke boys, at the dog pit—Eh, Tom?