singular; as in The happy hour.

The period between the drudgery and aggravation of work and all that goes with it and the aggravation and drudgery and all that goes with coming home to what is waiting for the person there.

So Bob, how do you want to spend the happy hour today? Locked on the subway with a few thousand other miserables or down on the corner at Joes Lounge having a dry martini?

I found this entry at From The Phrase Finder:
happy hour n. [1950s+] (orig. US)
a period, 1 or poss. 2 hours, when a pub or bar offers drinks at half price, usu. about 6pm: the assumption is that those customers who arrive for the cheap drinks will become sufficiently tipsy to stay on for the more expensive ones.
[orig. US Navy term for a scheduled period of time for entertainment and refreshment]
From _Cassell's Dictionary of Slang_ (1998) by Jonathon Green

I think it's "the happy hour" like, "the witching hour". "The happy hour is upon us."

Hey Lissa - what does your OED say?

The traditional happy hour had no set time, but generally happened after the work day was done; it was the hour just before dinner when you shared a cocktail or a martini with a small group of good friends. One did not have to go to bar for "happy hour, " but in the 1950 movie "Harvey," the character Elwood P. Dowd played by Jimmy Stewart describes "happy hour" in two different scenes. Dowd's happy hour always took place in neighborhood bar and always involved martinis with friends, one of them being Harvey the six-foot rabbit.

After a long day eating my way through the Fells' Point Festival then watching Gründelhämmer, you want me to drag out my OED to look up some USian slang? Oh, ok.

Man, there is over a page of happy stuff. Never seen that particular definition of "happy endings" before.

Anyway, origin US, "a period of time (usu. in the early evening) during which drinks are served in a bar, etc., at reduced prices, or when free hors-d'oeuvres are available." The examples are from 1961 through 1985.

Not particularly useful. Then again, the OED is not an etymological dictionary.

Grrrrr.

Just want to make sure you're still there. :-) EL

I prefer the phrase "the bar light is on."

Elwood P. Dowd's habit notwithstanding, many of us, I'm sure, remember our parents having "happy hour" with neighbors and friends at each other's homes. (The pine-paneled basement "wet bar" in many middle-class homes was a 50s fixture.) Going out to a (mostly male-occupied) neighborhood watering hole wasn't part of the ritual. Remember Haussner's bar? "Stag" didn't need to be enforced. Women's lib in the 1960s and 70s made bars the co-ed hangouts they are today. Maybe that's why the OED entry only goes back to the 1960s.

Cleatus, one of my friends said she survived freshman year in college because of years of training at home--"happy hour" every evening.

Is happy hour before or after rush hour?

The Chicago Grille (formerly the Pizzeria Uno) across from Harford Mall used to advertise a happy hour from 9-11 PM to get a little traffic from mall employees after they were done. Judging by the cars, it seemed to do well.

Canon, I always thought it was 5 p.m., but I think I'd be happier AFTER rush hour!

Is happy hour before or after rush hour?

Depends on whether you do it near work or near home.

Hal: Agreed.

Or you can even do it AT home. It would be a sad world indeed if Happy Hour were limited to commercial establishments.

"Rush hour" and "Happy Hour" are polar opposite conditions of the human spirit.

I'd say that Happy Hour is indulged in lieu and protest of Rush hour.

Once you stumble out of the gin (and vermouth) mill the traffic has had time to subside and the rush is over.

I gave up on happy hour at bars a while ago. With the low blood alcohol limits (good thing) and now the smoking ban, I'd rather just go home and drink and smoke in peace and safety. And it's way cheaper.

For better or worse, happy hour is not what it used to be (fun). If you can walk to a good bar, perhaps it's another story.

I once heard a story that Happy Hour came from the city in Ireland where Guiness is brewed. The brewery had an accident and the river filled with beer right at 5 o'clock, making that a "Happy" hour for the locals. Not sure where I heard it though.

Liz, that sounds far too close to the 4;20 story to be credible. Is it times for snopes to appear on D@L?

Cleatus, Dahlink, Anonymous: In 1951, Bernard DeVoto wrote a fun little book called "The Hour," in which he describes how happy hour got done right after WWII.. No bars or restaurants involved: good spirits with good friends at home, then off to dinner. It's out of print now and very hard to find, but worth any trouble you have to go through to get a copy. They just don't write 'em like that anymore.

At the Outer Banks Brewing Station in Kill Devil Hills, NC they had something called Angry Appetizers, instead of Happy Hour. Apparently, Happy Hours are illegal in their county because you're not allowed to offer 2-for-1s or half-offs or free drinks or anything like that (I think even Ladies Nights are out). So instead, they discount the appetizers at 4pm and call them Angry.

I love that. EL