Where "Schooner" Comes From
Not Australian in origin — the word comes from British sherry-drinking tradition, where large glasses were named after the fast sailing ships (clippers and schooners) that carried sherry over from Spain. Australia inherited the name rather than coining it.
What Australia did add is genuine regional confusion: in most states a schooner holds 425ml, but in South Australia it means something quite different — a smaller 285ml glass, which is what the rest of the country calls a "middy" or "pot" (see two-pot screamer). There's no legal Australian standard for the term, which is exactly why it varies. The word itself turns up in the Australian press by 1902 (The Sportsman, Melbourne — though that particular passage is actually discussing Scottish usage, which at least shows "schooner" was already circulating here), and by 1932 at least one NSW hotel, Grant's Hotel in Corrimal, had adopted an 18-oz "schooner" according to the Illawarra Mercury — not evidence of any formal statewide standard, just the size and name one pub had settled on.
Source:
"I'll have a schooner of New, thanks."
How Aussies Actually Use It
A standard pub order across most of the country — "I'll have a schooner of New, thanks" is the default choice for many regular drinkers.
It's larger than a middy but smaller than a pint, striking a balance that's become the go-to size in bars and pubs nationwide.
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