E025 A Lot of Bottle

Welcome to English with Kimberley.

In this episode, I want to talk to you about two containers we use every day for food and drink and how this can be confusing for everyone.

For example, I can drink a bottle of water – but not a jar of water. Unless I’m happy with most of the water dripping down my face and onto my clothes.

Shall we start with a quiz first.

When do you think the first bottle was made?

a) 500 years ago.

b) 3,500 years ago.

c) 200 years ago.

or d) About the same time as the first Coca Cola factory.

Why don’t I just repeat the question for you.

When do you think the first bottle was made?

a) 500 years ago.

b) 3,500 years ago.

c) 200 years ago.

or d) About the same time as the first Coca Cola factory.

The answer is that bottles have been discovered as old as 3,500 years ago.

By the way, in Australia the most popular use for a bottle is for beer. But Australians don’t always ask for a bottle of beer. You could hear ‘stubby’ for a small bottle, or ‘longneck’ for a large bottle.

But to get back to the difference between a bottle and a jar. It’s quite simple in that a bottle is for things that can be poured while a jar needs some help to get the contents out, such as a spoon, scoop or even your hands.

Another big difference is that a bottle will have a small opening while a jar has a much larger opening.

Finally, both bottles and jars can be made from plastic or glass and you may also see both bottles and jars made from aluminium too.

Examples of bottles are beer, water, tomato ketchup, wine, milk, vinegar, cooking oil, mayonnaise and so on. So, you can get a bottle of beer, a bottle of tomato ketchup or a bottle of wine.

Examples of jars are jam, pickles, cream, yogurt, cooking sauces, dried herbs, ground coffee, peanut butter and so on. So, you can get jars of jam, jars of pickle or jars of yogurt.

Let’s have our final quiz – remember it’s just for fun!

The title of this podcast is ‘A Lot of Bottle’. What do you think this expression in this sentence, ‘She has a lot of bottle’ means’?

a) Someone who drinks a lot of beer.

b) Someone who collects bottles as a hobby.

c) Someone who has a lot of courage or bravery.

or d) Someone who wants to share what they have in their bottle.

Let’s repeat that question again.

The title of this podcast is ‘A Lot of Bottle’. What do you think this expression, ‘She has a lot of bottle’ means’?

a) Someone who drinks a lot of beer.

b) Someone who collects a lot of bottles as a hobby.

c) Someone who has a lot of courage or bravery.

or d) Someone who wants to share what they have in their bottle.

Well, I think the bottle refers to a beer bottle and often if we drink a lot we often take risks that we wouldn’t do otherwise. So, the answer is c) ‘Someone who has a lot of courage or bravery’. An example might be, ‘He has a lot of bottle leaving his job just like that and going traveling around Australia.

If you found this podcast interesting you might also like Episode 15 (Tinnie), which is about the difference between a can and a tin of something.

If you like English with Kimberley, then tell your friends about it.

You can also leave feedback about this podcast on iTunes.

You can also find a script of this podcast at www.goaustralia.biz

I hope you have enjoyed this podcast and you’ll join me again.

Sources

Britglass. (2017). History of glass from http://www.britglass.org.uk/history-of-glass

Alldownunder. (2017) Australian slang about beer from http://alldownunder.com/australian-slang/dictionary-drinks-beer.htm