In need of a drink

[Byron]

Thanks for post Louis - it was indeed confusing to understand "UK face to life USA" and I was thinking hard and conjecturing that maybe "versus" was in fact the word intended.
Also it was interesting to read some historical background here and I got to learn about a square dance call which I had never understood (dos-a-dos): http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/vis-a-vis.html.

I had to laugh when you said garde robe. We know that is a place to store your clothes and is therefore a wardrobe (or closet in American) but it would of course also mean latrine or privy in medieval buildings.
This is Moydow Castle in Ireland where a double latrine chute shows on an external wall (I leave it to your imagination to guess what obnoxious pile accumulated below many hundreds of years past !)
http://irishantiquities.bravehost.co...ydow070706.JPG

(my apologies for going off-topic, which I know is not to your liking)