Almost everyone came across a word like “sam.” This term is primarily associated with an English name. However, this one has several meanings, some of them are slang words. For example, the so-called moonshine - an alcoholic beverage prepared at home by distillation. What is Sam and his various interpretations will be considered in the essay.
Meaning of the word
It is impossible to answer unequivocally to the question of what sam is. This term has many interpretations:
- Ecological monitoring system in Moscow.
- The character of the popular Splinter Cell game is Sam Jones.
- Scanning (raster) electron microscope.
- The name of the computer game "Cool Sam", released in a series.
- The name of the character from the book and the movie trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”.
- Ship Cat Nickname - Unsinkable Sam.
- The name of moonshine (strong alcoholic drink made in a artisanal way).
- The names of famous actors are Samuel L. Jackson and Sam Worthington.
- Abbreviation for airplane electric meteorograph.
- Sam-Shor - the name of the river in Russia, located in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area.
As follows from the above, this is a multi-valued term, some of its meanings will be discussed in more detail below.
Ship cat
Considering what Sam is, one should tell about an amazing story that concerns the navy and the cat. For the first time on board a ship, namely the German battleship Bismarck, the cat hit around the beginning of 1941. He had a black and white color, and was brought to the ship by a soldier who remained unknown.
In the same year, in mid-May, the battleship left Gotenhafen (Gdynia) in order to detect and flood the British merchant ships. However, on May 27, the battleship was spotted by British courts, the steering was damaged and shot from large-caliber cannons, like a target in a shooting gallery.
Of the 2,200 crew members, only 115 sailors were saved. A few hours later, the cat himself was discovered by sailors floating on the wreckage of the ship, who were returning to the military base on the destroyer Kazak.
The cat was taken aboard. The sailors of the destroyer "Cossack" did not know the real name of the animal and named it Oscar.
Destroyer
The next few months, the cat was aboard the Cossack, which accompanied the naval convoys in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. At the end of October 1941, the ship was sailing with another convoy, HG-75, and was torpedoed by a German submarine. Cossack crew members along with the cat were picked up by the Legion destroyer.
Severely damaged ship tried to tow to Gibraltar, but the weather conditions worsened significantly, and three days later the Cossack sank. An interesting fact is that a torpedo fired from a German submarine hit the bow of the destroyer, killing 159 people. The cat, located in the same part of the ship, was not injured.
Aircraft carrier
After the death of the second ship, the sailors gave the cat the nickname Unsinkable Sam. Then the pet was brought aboard the aircraft carrier Ark Royal. An interesting fact is that the aircraft on board this ship, at one time participated in the sinking of the battleship Bismarck.
In mid-November, Ark Royal was returning to Gibraltar from a military base in Malta. A German submarine hunting for British U-81 ships attacked an aircraft carrier with two torpedoes, causing significant damage to it. They tried to tow the vessel, but after a while it sank 30 miles east of Gibraltar.
All crew members, aircraft pilots, and Unsinkable Sam himself were rescued by ships that heard the SOS signal and came to the rescue. The cat and several sailors were pulled out of the water and taken aboard a patrol boat.
After the loss of aircraft carrier Sam, it was decided to leave on the shore and no longer take to the sea. The cat spent some time in the Governor-General's Office of Gibraltar, and then was sent to the UK. He lived another 14 years and died on land in 1955.
Alcohol drink
Continuing to consider what Sam is, one should talk about a strong alcoholic drink, which is made in artisanal conditions. It is made by distillation of an alcohol-containing liquid (mash), which is produced from yeast, beets, fruits, crops with the addition of sugar and other ingredients. The people call this drink "sam" (moonshine).
From a technological point of view, this alcohol-containing liquid is artisanal distillation of mash. It differs from vodka, as it is made from alcohol, which is obtained by distillation. Although the result is strong alcoholic beverages that are different in taste.
In this case, “sam” is a slang word that came from the abbreviation of the term “moonshine” in the English manner. Despite the not very beautiful name, this drink can be of very good quality if it is subjected to the initial distillation treatment and filtration to remove fusel oils and tannins.
However, in its wide distribution moonshine is not very high quality, often with the addition of various psychotropic substances. It has a low cost, which attracts its customers. They most often include marginalized representatives of society, the so-called drunks.
Synonyms for homemade drink
People who drink this drink name it differently. The synonyms of the word moonshine include the following terms:
- Sam;
- pervach;
- Braga;
- swipes;
- jammer;
- miracle drink;
- schnapps;
- haze;
- sivuha;
- chimerges;
- self-dance;
- moonshine.
There are many similar tokens in the word, moreover, new ones gradually appear. This is, to put it mildly, a dubious drink, if purchased from unfamiliar private individuals. But if you study the production technology and follow it in the production of moonshine, as a result you can get a pure strong alcoholic drink of very good quality.