Something that occurred to me recently: If you went drinking abroad and found people ordering multiple "al-Qaida Highjacks," you may not find it in the best taste. For those reading who didn't already know, Ireland is divided. Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom and in the south Eire, is independent. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a terrorist group that believes Northern Ireland should be a part of the south. One way the IRA has chosen to make its political point in the past is to place car bombs in densely populated areas of England. Indeed, hundreds of people have been killed and injured in London and other major cities as a result of "Irish car bombs."

So, next time you're in a bar saluting this peculiar drink, consider for a moment its distasteful name. And don't, as a friend of mine did recently, ask for one when in England.