The plural form of barfly; multiple people who spend a lot of time in bars and are familiar with bartenders and other regular patrons.
Plural of 'barfly,' which combines 'bar' and 'fly' (comparing restless patrons to flies buzzing around). The term dates to the early 1900s and uses 'fly' as a metaphor for someone who appears and disappears frequently.
The word 'barfly' is pure American slang genius—it captures the image of someone flitting from drink to drink like an insect, and it stuck around because it's so vivid and slightly judgmental in a humorous way.
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