the name Hooch

[absinthe at mad.scientist.com]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., Catlady <catlady at w...> wrote:
> Does anyone have any idea what ethnicity the name "Hooch" is? I 
thought
> it might be Irish, maybe because its sounds a little like "Lynch" 
(Tim
> says his father's mother's father was a Lynch), and maybe because 
of the
> connection with rotgut booze. But then I thought it might be Welsh, 
the
> second syllable of Culhwch -- the name Culhwch means 'pig run' 
(like dog
> run, it's the pen to keep them in) but I can't remember whether the
> 'pig' part is Cul or Hwch.

I seem to remember a Dutch painter by the name of Hooch or de Hooch. 
As you alluded "hooch" is the name given to booze. I think the 
California Gold Rush miners used to make sour dough starter by 
fermenting flour, yeast and water a by-product of that fermentation 
was alcohol, which they called "hooch". I guess if you're the 
drinking type and your drink of choice isn't readily available, 
anything will do.

;-)Milz