Angel shots

This unusal drinks order has allegedly saved lives when victims have been in danger of abduction

ANDREW J. LINN

Friday, 22 July 2022, 15:29

Bar staff all over the world are learning a new language. Say we're on a bad first date, or are approached by an undesirable stranger: what's the best exit strategy?

Perhaps an 'accidental' wine spill or a pretend-emergency phone call, but occasionally even these pretexts are insufficient, and we need the help of the bar staff. This is where the angel shot can help, and it has allegedly saved lives when victims have been in danger of abduction.

Angel shots are drinks orders that convey a person is in need of urgent support but cannot say so in front of their companion. It is doubtful if a remark along the lines of "an angel shot with lime please" would convey anything other than an odd drinks order, but in the vernacular, it is a cry for help requesting the bar staff to alert the police.

A 'neat angel shot' means that someone is required to accompany the subject to their car, and 'on the rocks' expresses genuine fear for their physical safety. Since this until-now secret language has been thrown open to the baddies, much of the sting has been taken out of the tail, and social media is almost universal in condemning the quislings. What it has also revealed is the existence of a parallel secret dialect for men, known as the Johnny Depp shot.

Some bars have posted notices in men's toilets advertising their Johnny Depp shots 'available to keep you safe'. Perhaps we shall soon be seeing Antonio Banderas and Isabel Pantoja shots in Malaga bars?