science

Three-martini lunch

Three-martini lunch is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Three-martini lunch rather than just read about it. In short: In the United States, the three-martini lunch or noontime three-martini is a leisurely, indulgent lunch enjoyed by businesspeople or lawyers. It is named from the common belief that many people in the above-mentioned professions have enough leisure time and wherewithal to consume more than one martini during the work day.

Key takeaways

Three-martini lunch belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Three-martini lunch to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Three-martini lunch from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In the United States, the three-martini lunch or noontime three-martini is a leisurely, indulgent lunch enjoyed by businesspeople or lawyers. It is named from the common belief that many people in the above-mentioned professions have enough leisure time and wherewithal to consume more than one martini during the work day. The three-martini lunch became particularly identified in popular culture with Madison Avenue advertising executives in the 1960s and 1970s, who supposedly became more creative after such lunchtime libations. The term is sometimes used in political debates on tax deductibility of business meals in the United States.

Decline The three-martini lunch is no longer common practice for several reasons; these include the implementation of "fitness for duty" programs by numerous companies, the decreased tolerance of alcohol use, a general decrease in available leisure time for business executives and an increase in the size of the martini. President John F. Kennedy called for a crackdown on such tax breaks in 1961, but nothing was done at the time. Jimmy Carter condemned the practice during the 1976 presidential campaign. Carter portrayed it as part of the unfairness in the nation's tax laws, claiming that the working class was subsidizing the "$50 martini lunch". A "rich businessman" could write off this type of lunch as a business expense, thereby reducing the cost by his effective tax rate. His opponent, Gerald Ford, in a 1978 speech to the National Restaurant Association, responded with: "The three-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?"

Recent times It was once popular in Washington, D.C., but has declined since the early 1990s. The practice has also been affected by changing views on alcohol consumption, while others have chosen to go with new drinks like the vodka martini and cosmopolitan. The cost of some drinks has increased three times faster than the inflation rate. The entertainment deduction, which includes meals, was reduced to 80 percent in 1987 and to 50 percent in 1994. Comedian George Carlin once commented that the crackdown on the three-martini lunch "shouldn't affect the working man's two-joint coffee break".

See also List of cocktails Society portal Drink portal Food portal Liquor portal

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Three-martini lunch

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Three-martini lunch claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Three-martini lunch before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Three-martini lunch ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Three-martini lunch

In research: Three-martini lunch appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Three-martini lunch in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Three-martini lunch is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Culture of the United States, Drinking culture, Lunch, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Three-martini lunch outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Three-martini lunch in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Three-martini lunch means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Three-martini lunch out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Three-martini lunch in simple terms?

Why does Three-martini lunch matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Three-martini lunch?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Three-martini lunch.