Stout. This black alcoholic beverage is so called because it contains more body and nourishment than ale or beer.
Stradivarius. A violin made by the celebrated Antonio Stradivari of Cremona; generally abbreviated into “Strad.”
Straight Drink. An Americanism for a drink of pure, undiluted spirit.
Strand. The name given to the north bank of the Thames (from the Norse strönd, shore, border) in days when, with the exception of a few princely houses dotted here and there, the whole of this portion of London was open country.
Straphanger. A term which has come into vogue since the introduction of electrified railways, the trains being so crowded in the morning and evening that straps are provided for standing passengers to cling to en route.
Strasburg. This name was first heard of in the fifth century, expressing the German for a fortified town on the strass or strata, the great Roman highway into Gaul.
Stratford. From the Latin strata, road, way; that portion of the old Roman highway where the River Lea had to be forded. In Chaucer’s time this little town, situated a long distance out of London, was described as “Stratford-a-te-Bow,” in allusion to “Bow Bridge.”
Stratford Place. After Edward Stratford, the second Lord Aldborough, who leased the ground for building purposes from the Corporation of the City of London in 1775.
Stratton Street. After Lord Berkeley of Stratton, the owner of the district now comprised in Mayfair, temp. Charles I.
Strenuous Life. The antithesis of the “Simple Life.”