The dwarf in Bored of the Rings by the Harvard Lampoon. The son of Groin, Dwarf-Lord of Geritol, and Royal Inspector of Meats, he was nominated by the elf Legolam to go on the terribly dangerous quest to throw away the magic dingus. Gimlet nominated Legolam.

It was his ancestor Fergus Fewmet who built the fabled Nikon-zoom, the Black Pit. When the expedition left the enchanted forest of Lornadoon, the elf-queen Lavalier gave him a parting gift of a subscription to Elf Life. Legolam and Gimlet agreed on few things, but one of them was that Stomper the Ranger was a flake.

His catchphrase was "Bets?" when someone said something he doubted.

What they call a gimlet is just some lime or lemon juice and gin with a dash of sugar and bitters. A real gimlet is half gin and half Rose's Lime Juice and nothing else. It beats martinis hollow.

Terry Lennox to Philip Marlowe, in Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye

The apocrypha of eponyms attributes the gimlet to one Surgeon Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Desmond Gimlette who served in the Royal Navy from 1879-1917. At this time, a daily ration of lime juice was prescribed for the prevention of scurvy; gin was the preferred hard liquor of the wardroom (the officers' mess). This mixture, of two ingredients with purported medicinal value, must have been common to many of His Majesty's Ships.

The gimlet is an elegant, pale green, slightly cloudy, cocktail. The sour of the lime juice covers the bite of the gin; the sweetness of the lime juice carries the finish of the drink.

• 2 oz gin
• 3/4 oz Rose's Sweetened Lime Juice

Pour ingredients over crushed ice and shake.
Strain into a cocktail glass.
Garnish with a wheel of lime.

This is another drink that I mix for my housemate who prefers sweet drinks; it is one of the only ways she will drink gin.

conform suggests I discuss the phenomenon of the so-called "vodka gimlet":
As with many gin drinks, one may desire to substitute vodka for gin. The resultant pale simulacrum generally exhibits a dearth of complexity and is a lamprey upon the soul.

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Gim"let (?), n. [Also written and pronounced gimbled ()] [OF. guimbelet, guibelet, F. gibelet, prob. fr. OD. wimpel, weme, a bore, wemelen to bore, to wimble. See Wimble, n.]

A small tool for boring holes. It has a leading screw, a grooved body, and a cross handle.

Gimlet eye, a squint-eye. [Colloq.] Wright.

 

© Webster 1913.

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Gim"let, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gimleted; p. pr. & vb. n. Gimleting.]

1.

To pierce or make with a gimlet.

2. Naut.

To turn round (an anchor) by the stock, with a motion like turning a gimlet.

 

© Webster 1913.