According to Google, the term happy hour is a noun that refers to a period of the day when drinks are sold at reduced prices in a bar or restaurant. However, I consider happy hour to be so much more than this. Don’t get me wrong, alcohol at a reduced price always makes me happy, but I loosely refer to afternoon drinking in between the hours of 3:30 pm and 7 pm (whenever work ends really) as happy hour. Drink deals aren’t necessary to celebrate happy hour, but they are appreciated.
Happy hour is one of my favorite times of day. I mean what’s not to love about an hour that encourages imbibing with careless abandon at an affordable price? I’m a master of happy hour in San Francisco. I know which bars have the best deals on any day of the week in almost every neighborhood.
There’s only one thing I don’t like about happy hour. The fact that it’s a noun and not a verb. I think the term should be both! I’m starting a movement to turn happy hour from a plain old noun into a fabulous action verb. After all, happy hour is a thing that you do. It requires a certain state of mind and attitude. Especially if you’ve had a horribly long week of work and it’s Friday afternoon and the sun is shining and the cocktails are 2 for 1. You’re not just going to happy hour. You’re happy houring.
Think about it in terms of our most common form of communication: texting. The text message ‘Are you happy houring?’ is so much more fun than ‘Are you going to happy hour?’ Same goes for ‘Should we happy hour?’ versus ‘Should we go to happy hour?’ and ‘Let’s happy hour!’ versus ‘Let’s go to happy hour!’ It makes perfect sense, right?
Will you help me make it a trend? All you have to do is start using happy hour like a verb. Begin now. It’s Thursday and the perfect day for afternoon drinks. Happy happy houring!
Six Twists 