[Sca-cooks] Cider

[Phil Anderson]

Yesterday I wrote:

> Yes, there have been enough references that I'm less sure than I
> was -- time to have a look at the OED in the library on the way
> home.

What I found was that Big Oxford and Chambers both make no
mention of cider being anything other than alcoholic (and, in fact,
give its derivation from a Hebrew? word for strong drink), while
Cambridge and one other dictionary [I should have taken writing
equipment...] say that it _can_ be non-alcoholic but give no
indication whether that's a regional usage.

Moving on to the encyclopedias, Britannica and one other said that
cider being a non-alcoholic beverage is a North American usage, as
contrasted with European usage where it's alcoholic. The US
encyclopedia I checked had no entry for cider at all.

Edward Long-hair
Southron Gaard, Caid