I think that the only connection is "public," whether public affairs or a public house, open to all customers. At 02:41 PM 8/30/00 +0200, you wrote: >There is that word again . . . . "publicans" > >I have always wondered if there was any connection between the US term for >the political party called "Re-publicans" and the word that references the >congenial server of malt beer in pubs in Europe. > >If so, how does a re-publican differ from the non-re-publican? > >Does anyone know?