last chance saloonn.
/ˌlɑːs(t) tʃɑːns səˈluːn/, /ˌlas(t) ˌʃans səˈluːn/, U.S. /ˈˌlæs(t) ˌtʃæns səˈlun/ 1. U.S. Esp. in the West: (a name for) a saloon at the end of a street or the edge of a town. Now chiefly historical.
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the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > drinking place > [noun] > tap-room or bar > other bars
public bar1654
American bar1856
wine room1865
last chance saloon1869
four-ale1883
private bar1892
saloon bar1902
cocktail bar1908
cocktail lounge1934
porter bar1935
lounge bar1937
wine bar1938
dive bar1940
gay bar1947
open bar1947
piano bar1947
sherry-bar1951
public1957
leather bar1961
private1963
ouzeri1964
karaoke bar1977
1869 Morning Republican (Little Rock, Arkansas) 16 June 1/1 (advt.) Last Chance Saloon, corner of Main and Markham Streets.
1888 Proc. Nebraska State Pharmaceut. Assoc. 7 28 You have heard of last chance saloons, but every druggist..is the last chance in the sense that he often stands between his patrons and a fatal mistake.
1890 Centralia (Wisconsin) Enterprise & Tribune 1 Sept. He has been running a ‘last chance’ saloon.
1922 Phi Gamma Delta Apr. 630 If any there be who think of Montana as a state of sombreros and ‘hair pants’, Last Chance saloons, and mining camps, let it be known that [etc.].
1974 Texas Monthly Aug. 88/2 We take you to first-run movies and last-chance saloons. We take you to the best places to eat chili, chowder, beans and greens.
2008 C. Morehouse Golden Enchantment iii. 17 A two-story brick building housing the Last Chance Saloon emitted the acrid smell of stale whiskey.
2. figurative and in figurative contexts. A final opportunity or hope for success; the last refuge of the unsuccessful or desperate. Now chiefly British.Cf. quot. 1888 at sense 1.
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1947 Time 7 July 23/2 Paris had been the last chance for One Europe (a U.S. reporter had dubbed the Parrot Salon, where the Ministers met, the ‘Last Chance Saloon’).
1949 New Castle (Pa.) News 28 Feb. 5/5 The silver-haired manager who had Dempsey..is going to win no more titles unless he wins with Maxim. Maxim is his last chance Saloon.
1981 Times 16 Oct. 15/1 British industry, the late Sir John Methven once remarked, is in ‘the last chance saloon’.
1999 Independent 7 June i. 1/2 Nato has insisted that there is no room for negotiation. A grim-faced Nato official said: ‘This is their last chance saloon.’
2003 A. Henry Autocourse 2003–4 76 The management realised that they might be drinking at the ‘Last Chance Saloon’ if they didn't do something about achieving hard results.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1869