Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US gay) an active male homosexual.

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 17: the man who fucks in anal intercourse, as opposed to the one who is fucked [...] bottle opener.

see pop v.¹ (6g)

delirium tremens.

1890–1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

a person with notably broad buttocks; thus bottle-arsed.

c.1550		C. Bansley Pryde and Abuse of Women line 97: Down for shame wyth these bottell-rst b-mmes, And theyr trappynge trinkets so vayne!
1909		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues (rev. edn).
1937–84		Partridge DSUE (1984) 122/2: late C.19–20.
1938		children's song q. in W. Mathews Cockney Past & Present 102: His old woman’s name was Mother Bottle-Arse.
[1961		(con. late 17C) in F. Cassidy Jamaica Talk 292: Bottle-Arses is a small Fly with a large Breech; they are chiefly in the country].

(orig. US) an alcoholic tramp who has become insane and whose mental age is that of an infant; thus a heavy drinker.

1925		in S. Armitage John Held 23: You needn’t worry about Clarabelle, the bottle baby.
1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 94: We [marijuana smokers] were on another plane in another sphere compared to the musicians who were bottle babies, always hitting the jug.
1955		B. Schulberg On the Waterfront (1964) 17: Everybody was thumbed in to work, except the worst of the bottle babies, the dead beats and the rebels.
1968		G. Cuomo Among Thieves 180: He’s a bottle baby, Flash.
1971		R.D. Pharr S.R.O. (1998) 200: ‘You can let me buy you and Joey a little drink, then’ [...] ‘Oh well, there’s no denying I’m a bottle baby’.
2000		(con. 1940s–60s) Décharné Straight from the Fridge Dad 70: Ginmill cowboys Bar regulars, bottle babies.

1. (also bleach-bottle blonde) a woman with dyed-blonde hair.

1905		H. Green Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 234: She was a modest bottle blond, with curling locks under a sombrero.
1913		H.G. Van Campen ‘Woes of Two Workers’ in McClure’s Mag. Aug. 192/2: I wisht you’d can some of that knockin’. Spreadin’ the report that maw’s only a bottle blonde, an’ was married an’ Renoed four times before we come East, has made her terrible grieved.
1919		Van Loan ‘Chivalry in Carbon County’ in Score by Innings (2004) 327: I was out there to show these bottle blondes that they didn’t have the only pitcher on earth.
1926		N.W. Putnam Easy 90: A hard-faced bottle blonde in slinky black satin.
1933		J. Gordon London Roundabout 344: ‘Well, I can tell you this bottle blonde is going to hug its little pillow in the morning!’ cried a Florentine page, shaking her bob vigorously.
1948		C. Harvey Jazz Parody 53: Jake thought his eyes smouldered at the store-bottle blonde and he thought her eyebrow rose in answer.
1955		Jet 28 July 27: A Georgia bottle-blonde, who spent her peachy years as a cash-and-tarry doxy.
1969		G. McInnes Castle on the Run 26: Their long hair, bare feet, their booze and guitars and bottle-blonde girls with teased-out hair.
1979		B. Angle Rinker 5: He says, hell, yeah, he likes ’em flame-topped, and says how would she like to try being a bottle redhead instead of a bottle blonde.
1981		W. Boyd ‘Not Yet, Jayette’ On the Yankee Station (1982) 18: A girl works there most mornings, thin, bottle-blonde.
1993		T. Jones Pugilist at Rest 131: He [...] thought he was going to win the heavyweight title at the age of thirty-two, screw a bunch of bleach-bottle blondes, and drive around in a brand-new Cadillac all the time.
2000		Indep. on Sun. Culture 19 Mar. 14: Three generations of bottle-blondes.
2011		‘Jack Tunney’ Split Decision [ebook] A bottle blonde sat beside him reapplying lipstick.
2017		T. Pluck Bad Boy Boogie [ebook] ‘The bottle blonde bitch you call your mother’.
2023		F. Bill Back to the Dirt 19: Monica, a bleach-bottle blonde with shoulder-length hair, fake-and-bake tan, toned and shapely.

2. (Aus.) a stupid individual.

2001

Sydney Morning Herald (Aus.) 6 Jan. n.p.: So here’s a tentative guide to Sydney teenspeak: [...] Bottle blond (an unintelligent boy or girl).

(US) a drunkard, an alcoholic.

1947		N. Algren Neon Wilderness (1986) 21: The simple everyday bottle-boy, who fights when he drinks, and he drinks all the time.
1974		(con. late 1940s) E. Thompson Tattoo (1977) 594: He saw his own future in the gray old bottle boy and turned away.

a stupid or intoxicated person.

1972		J. McNeill Old Familiar Juice (1973) 102: bulla: What’s cracking you up, bottle-brain?
1977		A. Bleasdale Who’s Been Sleeping in my Bed 104: But which road, bottlebrain?

(US black) a drunkard.

1939

D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 29 July 16: Latest jive [...] does away with clumsy and somewhat lowlife terms for drunkards such as [...] ‘booze-hound’ and substitutes the intriguing definition: ‘Bottle Chaser’ .

a fool; thus bottle-headed, foolish.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew.
1725		New Canting Dict.
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
1785		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (3rd edn) n.p.: Bottle-headed. Void of wit.
1809		G. Andrewes Dict. Sl. and Cant n.p.: Bottle-head stupid, void of sense.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1796].
1821		R. Waln Hermit in America on Visit to Phila. 2nd series 28: She was [...] Cribbage-faced — Beetle-headed — Bottle-headed — Buffle-headed, — and Chuckle-headed!!!
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict. [as cit. 1809].
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open [as cit. 1809].
c.1850		Duncombe New and Improved Flash Dict.
1857		Worcs. Chron. 18 Feb. 4/3: He never ordered him out of the room, but he called him a bottle-headed fool.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum.
1881		Trumble Sl. Dict. (1890).
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 11: Bottle Head, a blockhead.

(US black) regular / heavy drinkers.

1936

D. Burley in Chicago Defender 5 Dec 14: ‘Pistol Pete’ has East 58th street ‘bottle gang’ members on the continual scram.

a supporter, an assistant; thus bottle-holding, assistance, support.

1788		C. Dibdin Musical Tour 51: Though I may find it necessary to go to loggerheads with witlings and crotchet-mongers, it would be unhandsome to bring you in as my second, or even bottle-holder.
1819		‘One of the Fancy’ Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress 40: Yet, now, such loving pals are they, / That georgy [...] Is proud to be his bottle-holder!
1822		American 2 Mar. 2/3: [Two prizefighters] never got further ahead in our society than occasionally to stand bottle holders at a ‘crack’ fight.
1826		National Advocate 1 Feb. 2/3: Jerry was bottle holder; Dick held the stop watch; Bob trembled from the heart downwards; Elec was judge; and the hackmen turned their horses’ heads to Broadway and looked at the sport.
1858		Bell’s Life in Sydney 7 Aug. 3/3: The very distinguished solicitor who figures so frequently as principal bottle holder in the police arena.
1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn) 102: bottle-holder [...] an abettor; also, the bridegroom’s man at a wedding.
1878–80		J. MacCarthy Hist. of Our Own Times II 115: The noble lord (Palmerston) told the deputation that the past crisis was one which required on the part of the British Government much generalship and judgment, and that a good deal of judicious bottle-holding was obliged to be brought into play [F&H].

(US) an alcoholic, a heavy drinker.

1944		M. Heimer World Ends at Hoboken 26: ‘The government ought to reduce the size of a whisky glass, too,’ one portly bottle hound said, wrapping his hamlike paw around a thimble of rye.
1985		W.T. Longtree Death Hunters 62: He was a bottle hound. Liked to get drunk and sit looking at his pistol, hoping for a chance to shoot it.
1993		J.E. Ray Who Killed Martin Luther King? 106: He did drink beer — if somebody else was buying — but he wasn’t a bottle-hound.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 147: The liquor stores rolled. Bottle hounds and out-the-door biz.

(US) a barperson.

1896		Eve. Times (Washington, DC) 22 Feb. 4/3: ‘How’s business?’ asked the cheerful idiot [...] ‘Sell much beer?’ ‘No,’ replied the bottle juggler as he handed the idiot his drink.
1916		J. Lait ‘Omaha Slim’ in Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 115: He walks up to the bar like the big, fine gent what he is, an’ he barks to the bottle-juggler: ‘Gi’ the boys all a drink’.

(Aus.) one who uses a (broken) bottle as a weapon.

1937		Northern Miner (Charters Towers, Qld) 22 Feb. 4/3: Suddenly Paddy’s sparring partner picked up a bottle, and [...] yelled at the Irishman, ‘I’m a bottle king you Irish cow, so keep quiet’ Paddy quickly grabbed his razor from a box. ‘Yeah,’ he exclaimed. ‘If you're a bottle king I’m a Bengal Lancer’.
1937		Sun. Times (Perth) 31 Jan. 2/5: TERROR GANGS to BE WIPED OUT Flogging Advocated for Slashers [...] The razor and bottle kings are skilled in the art of DISFIGURING THEIR VICTIM FOR LIFE!

(S.Afr. drugs) a mixture of tobacco and marijuana (sometimes with other forms of drugs) packed into the neck of a broken bottle, which serves as a pipe and through which it is smoked.

1977		Sun. Times (Johannesburg) 1 May 7: All are proficient At making dagga pipes from bottlenecks, match boxes, toilet rolls and so on [DSAE].
1987		Scope 20 Nov. 41: White pipes were on the menu that morning. Dagga and mandrax mixed into a lethal bottleneck combo [DSAE].
1992		South 27 Feb. 4: There’s no room for theorising or analysis at bottleneck level [DSAE].

see separate entries.

(US) a drunkard.

2000

(con. 1940s–60s) Décharné Straight from the Fridge Dad.

(US drugs) a method of smoking hashish where a small hole is made in a bottle (usu. a beer bottle), then a cigarette with a small chunk of hashish on the tip is inserted in the hole.

1985		Totally True Diaries of an Eighties Roller Queen 🌐 1 Nov. Today Jennifer and I sat around and ate chocolate bars. We went to her house. It’s huge. We went to Mark’s house with Gary and did bottle tokes.
1996		‘The Hollow One’ posting at Erowid.org 🌐 I as a general rule dont like hot knives as much as bottle tokes cuz there’s something kinda hardcore about sitting around a stove sucking on a tube.
2001		Smokedot 🌐 Get yourself some oil or honey oil, do up some bottle tokes with something like Export A Green cigarettes (coffin nails, they make you cough up blood after awhile smokin’ em), and you’ll take on up up the next level.
2008		Isaac X From Degradation to Redemption 26: He roller single papered, double papered even tripled papered joints. He would make these contraptions called guns, double barrels [...] Two could smoke a double barrel at the same time. Bottle tokes or bots were also a favorite.

see separate entry.

nonsense, rubbish.

1944

Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch 25 May 6/5: [letters to editor] In an answer to —’s letter [...] I say bottlewash [DARE].

see chief cook and bottle-washer n. (2)

without a doubt.

1895

‘’Arry on Derby Day’ in Punch 1 June 258/1: It’s beastly, dear boy, and no bottles.

(Aus.) impoverished, down and out.

1967

K. Tennant Tell Morning This 197: ‘I took you in when you hand’t a stitch, when you wre bottle green and lousy from sleeping in parks’.

see separate entries.

to make a cheating bet.

c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: Sack. to break a bottle in an Empty Sack, a Bubble Bett. A Sack with a Bottle in it not being an Empty Sack.
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn).
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.

see under drink v.

(Aus.) an expert.

1968		S. Gore Holy Smoke 39: God [...] just happened to be the real full-bottle on Natural Forces as well.
1999		G. Seal Lingo 191: Someone may be the full bottle on something, knowing all that there is to know about a particular subject.

to drink a bottle almost to the bottom.

1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn) n.p.: Black Eye. We gave the bottle a black eye, i.e. drank it almost up.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1830		N.-Y. Daily Sentinel 14 Apr. 2/5: Three Blockheads [...] agreed to drink off a quantity of punch. [One] gives it a black eye, as it is called, or drank until the surface of the liquor touched the opposite edge of the bottom.
1836		J. Welch Six Days’ Tour Through the Isle of Man 125: [...] who yet, in his sixty-fourth year, can sing a song, crack a joke, give a bottle a black eye, or make a beefsteak look foolish.

see separate entries.

in the neck.

1898		W.C. Brann Brann the Iconoclast 109: These self-expatriated apostles sometimes get it where the bottle got the cork? Having sown the wind, can they justly complain if they reap the whirlwind?
1903		A. Binstead Pitcher in Paradise 57: There came along a Newmarket Second October in which the proud Austrian got it where the bottle got the cork.
1917		B.E.F. Times 20 Jan. (2006) 155/1: [The Germans will] ‘Get it where the bottle got the cork.’.
1922		Soda Fountain 21 145/2: It was at the local football match, and the home team were getting it where the bottle got the cork.
1930		Great British Short Stories 957: If yeh don’t brass up by Wednesday night — then I’ll see that yeh get it where the bottle got the cork. That plain enough for yeh?
1943		Plebs XXVI 16: [Those] who complain that their efforts have been ‘lost, mislaid or delayed’ certainly ask for and get it where the bottle got the cork.