half-and-half
Preserved but no longer current.
A mixture of ale and porter, much affected by medical students; occasionally Latinized into "dimidium dimidiumque." Cooper is HALF-AND-HALF, made of stout and porter. The term of HALF-AND-HALF is also applied to the issue of marriages between gipsies and "white people."
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “half-and-half” mean?
A mixture of ale and porter, much affected by medical students; occasionally Latinized into "dimidium dimidiumque." Cooper is HALF-AND-HALF, made of stout and porter. The term of HALF-AND-HALF is also applied to the issue of marriages between gipsies and "white people."
Is “half-and-half” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.