a gathering of friends with
the common goal of story telling and boose drinking, emphasis being the story telling aspect. typically guests bring a bottle (or several) of wine, and tell a story whilst their bottle is being passed around the table. and from personal
experience, it's best to be one of the first to tell a story...no one is paying attention by the 4th or 5th story/bottle of wine :)
it is believed the phrase
originated in boston.