DCHP-2

two-six 2-6, twenty-six, 26er, twenty-sixer DCHP-2 (November 2016)

• n. — slang, informal, Food & Drink

  a 750-millilitre (previously 26-ounce) bottle of hard liquor (see Image 1).

  Type: 1. Origin — Two-six derives from "twenty-six" or "twenty-sixer", terms that arose from a liquor bottle's 26-ounce capacity. Though 750 millilitres, the new standard measure, is just over 25 ounces, two-six survived the change from imperial to metric measures in the 1970s and early 1980s (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference). A "fifth", a reference to the former measurement of one-fifth of a gallon, is the current American equivalent (OED-3, s.v. "fifth" (B4)). Two-six is apparently exclusive to Canada (see Chart 1).
  See also COD-2, s.v. "twenty-six", which is marked "Cdn".

  See also: mickey  40-ouncer  two-four  

  • Twenty-sixer is the older form that, since the 1980s, is being gradually replaced by the shortened two-six.