The death of the college bar?

[Admiral Yi]

To prevent the possibility of further confusion, "cop bars" are not actually run by cops either. 

[garbon]

So you benighted Yuros know what's being discussed, a college bar is a privately owned bar in the town where the college is located, frequented by students.  A bar that is actually run by the college and located on the school grounds is called something like "the campus pub."

This discussion could therefore be used as a case study in how sharing the same language can lead to mutual comprehension 

From my vantage point a University is divided into a number of colleges each of which will have its own bar, probably run by the JCR (undergraduates), perhaps with the assistance of professional staff. In addition the Student's Union will have a vast bar serving crappy beer. Pubs are, of course, public houses, ie private businesses that welcome anyone as customers. But then, I'm thinking of the arrangements at Durham, many/most? British Universities are not collegiate in structure, which is rather foolish of them but there it is.

I was very confused at Oxford how some of the colleges allowed wine to be purchased using one's meal plan.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Then there were the "peeler bars" that came up in conversation on Languish a while back. "Peeler" is old-fashioned slang for a copper in the UK (after Sir Robert Peel), so naturally I initially assumed that we were talking about cop bars...........it was most mystifying for about 10 minutes or so 

[Syt]

My college town village didn't have a proper bar. We had to drive the 20-30 minutes to Kiel for any semblance of nightlife. OTOH, the beach was 15 minutes away.

We had this one guy who had a very good knowledge of cocktails, the necessary utensils and how to properly mix them. So twice or so per semester he'd collect 20 Marks from each of us, buy spirits, syrups etc. and set up cocktail menus with a choice of 5-8 drinks for the evening.

[Tonitrus]

On a slightly related note, I hear tales from the old-timers that Air Force squadrons often used to have their own bar, and Airmen would wind down a Friday together.

Also, that base enlisted clubs used to be a much bigger, social environment.  Nowadays, those places seem barely inhabited except for the odd special/ceremonial event, or those poor suckers still stuck living on base.

[chipwich]

I tried getting into bar culture in college but it was too opaque and I never felt comfotable.

[dps]

The idea of university students going to bars is alien to me.  When I was in university, I didn't know anybody who went to a bar.  Students should study and get jobs.

I thought getting into University was the big thing in Asia but once you got there you could finally cut loose a bit.  So that is not true?  When do you get to cease to be a humorless repressed person?

When he ceases to be a person and becomes a corpse.