What does " to kill at forty rods" mean?
It's about cheap & strong whiskey that is called forty-rod in some dialects.
It is so called from its alleged ability to kill at forty rods

What does "at forty rods" mean?

Thanks in advance!

Question

What does " to kill at forty rods" mean?
It's about cheap & strong whiskey that is called forty-rod in some dialects.
It is so called from its alleged ability to kill at forty rods

What does "at forty rods" mean?

Thanks in advance!

Answer

A rod is a unit of measurement.  It's about 5 meters.
So 40 rods is 200 meters.

In English the phrase "doing  at " is usually figurative.  It means that you're having an effect from a long ways away.  It usually means something is strong.

Obviously, whiskey can't kill someone 200 meters away.  But you can imagine a whiskey that strong.

Answer

In addition to what Marlon wrote:

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_(unit)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_(unit)

Answer

From forty +‎ rod, a measure of distance, suggesting whiskey so strong it can affect one from 200 meters away.

لا تفوّت فرصة تعلّم لغة جديدة وأنت مرتاح في منزلك. تصفّح مجموعتنا المختارة من مدرّسي اللغات ذوي الخبرة وسجّل في درسك الأول الآن!