Today, I'm giving some time traveling advice. (You know, in case they ever invent time travel.)
I was reading a book published in the 1870s. The reprobate brother shows up in the middle of the night and wakes the whole household. He asks his cousin (the homeowner) for some soda water. The mother and sister are ashamed, and the cousin claims with deep umbrage that he doesn't own any.
I'm sitting there thinking, 'Okay, the guy's an insensitive jerk, but why the umbrage over a request for soda-water?'
My mother-in-law loves to drink a bit of this fizzy (the Aussie term for carbonated drinks). What's wrong with soda-water?
Turns out soda-water was used to make mixed alcoholic drinks in the 1800s
And! Polite society of the time found it deeply offensive.
So, should they invent time travel, I recommend you DO NOT DRINK the 'soda-water.' It's not what you think it is!
Great piece of history and Regency trivia!