BYOB

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Categories: Articles needing additional references from December 2007 | Acronyms | Parties | Restaurant terminology | Wine terms

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For the System of a Down song, see B.Y.O.B. (song).

BYOB is considered by some to be a primarily American acronym for bring your own bottle (or booze or beer). The acronym is placed on an invitation to indicate that the host will not be providing alcohol and guests are welcome to bring their own. It is also frequently used by regular bars, restaurants, or strip clubs which do not have a license to serve liquors or alcoholic beverages in general; an alternate term for this is brownbagging.

First cited by some online sources to have been used in the 1950s^[1], but in later years the latter "B" has taken on various meanings, beer and beverage. Sometimes the "B" stands for "bagels". When preceded by "BBQ", it is understood to mean bring your own burgers to the barbecue.

An alternative etymology is emerging however, and is rumoured to be due for consideration by BBC television's popular series Balderdash & Piffle which challenges viewers to push back the official known dates of reference for various unusual words, for consideration by the Oxford English Dictionary. This alternative suggests that in the early 19th century the term BYOB was used in society slang to mean "Bring Your Own Basket", with reference to group picnics. A basket would of course include alcoholic beverages but this isn't believed to have been the primary focus of the term. This version is also supported by the Modern Drunkard Magazine.
It is however generally recognised the more modern subversion of the term was initiated by drinkers in the 1950s, but it is still contested as to which side of the Atlantic it first occurred.

In Australia, the colloquialism is often changed slightly to the acronym BYOG meaning bring your own grog. This is frequently used to describe a party where guests are expected to bring their own alcoholic beverages.

In addition to the "Basket" etymology, several other meanings have been put forward but as they are neither widely used nor recognised, they are only understood when expanded, e.g. bring your own bagels, bring your own bhang or bring your own Bat'leth (said by Tom Paris to B'Elanna Torres in a season three episode of Star Trek: Voyager) or "build your own box" in hacker jargon. Overall it is a very popular acronym that is often used to mean (slightly) different things by intent.