Anyone ever heard of a shoulder of vodka?

[ríomhaire]

Until last night I would have assumed most of you had. A shoulder is just this type of bottle(350ml):

I wanted a reference image so I googled "shoulder of vodka" and noticed how most of the results were from Irish websites. Looking down the list the result for urbandictionary was

shoulder - 5 definitions - A widely used phrase in Ireland, given to a 350ml bottle of alcoholic spirits. Most commonly vodka or whiskey....Known t...

I had no idea this was an Irish phrase. I've experienced this a couple of times with other words I thought were universally used but as it turns out are rarely used outside of this island. Eg, jeep to mean any sort of 4x4/SUV. For years I didn't know that there was a company called Jeep, I just thought that was the general name, same as van or truck.

Also, "ye" is still used here in general speech (but not in formal writing much) as the plural form of you (as in, "hear ye, hear ye"), which has died out everywhere else. I was rather surprised to learn this.


Has anyone else experienced this or been faced with someone not understanding a word they assumed everyone knew?

 

[Solaris]

what about ye?

We just call them quarter bottles in the north

 

[Dog--]

We call them mickey's.

"Get me a mickey of vodka" is usually what we say to people going on beer/liquor runs.

 

[<RJMC>]

For years I didn't know that there was a company called Jeep

lol what about the big JEEP leters in the grill? is like if a car have CAR in the grill and a truck have TRUCK and etc..

 

[Viperidae]

That's alcoholic sized. The kind you hide in your tweed suit so the children don't see it.

 

[knut]

robots don't say ye

 

[ríomhaire]

lol what about the big JEEP leters in the grill? is like if a car have CAR in the grill and a truck have TRUCK and etc..

I'm not sure if I've ever seen a Jeep in my life. I certainly don't have a clue what their logo is. To me a jeep was just a 4x4. Eg a Toyota Landcruiser was a jeep to me; a class of vehicle, not a make.

 

[hot564231]

I'm not sure if I've ever seen a Jeep in my life. I certainly don't have a clue what their logo is. To me a jeep was just a 4x4. Eg a Toyota Landcruiser was a jeep to me; a class of vehicle, not a make.

It was the same for me too, only learned of this up to a couple of years ago,

When I was younger, I couldn't figure out why an English person would look at me weird when I said "What's the craic like"

This fallowed by an awkward stare, and then looking at the ground for a crack...

 

[No Limit]

We call them half gallons here. And hell yeah, I heard of em, got me through my first years living alone. $19.99 for a half galon of smirnoff was a steal.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

We call them mickey's.

"Get me a mickey of vodka" is usually what we say to people going on beer/liquor runs.

Yeah, Mickey here, too. I've HEARD Shoulder, though. It's not uncommon in my area.

 

[63]

It's not uncommon in my area.

Neither is daylight murder.

 

[15357]

We call them bottles.

 

[Danimal]

^ Same.

 

[Dog--]

But they arent bottles?

 

[Mr Stabby]

I've heard people talk about shoulders of whiskey and having no idea what the **** they were talking about. Must be a southern thing.

 

[Remus]

Eg, jeep to mean any sort of 4x4/SUV. For years I didn't know that there was a company called Jeep, I just thought that was the general name, same as van or truck.

FACT

A lot of people in my country think that:

-Adidas, means sports shoes, and have no idea there's a company by that name.
-Xerox, means copy machine, or the act of copying a peace of paper.

And other stuff like that I can't remember right now.

 

[IonizeMyAtoms]

I'm in school for journalism and we have to know a lot of brand names so we're not using copywritten stuff, ie Kleenex, Frisbee, Rollerblade, Band-Aid. More here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericized_trademarks

 

[NeptuneUK]

Learn something new every day....
What's a half litre bottle then? 'shite-load of vodka'

 

[Danimal]

But they arent bottles?

You're not actually a Dog?

 

[Solaris]

We call them half gallons here. And hell yeah, I heard of em, got me through my first years living alone. $19.99 for a half galon of smirnoff was a steal.

For 350ml??? $20??? Over here they're like £6 and would get you on your way, but not drunk.

Maybe a half gallon is more.

 

[No Limit]

For 350ml??? $20??? Over here they're like £6 and would get you on your way, but not drunk.

Maybe a half gallon is more.

Not 350ml, 1.75L.

 

[ríomhaire]

Learn something new every day....
What's a half litre bottle then? 'shite-load of vodka'

No special name I know of but 200ml is a naggin.

 

[StarBob]

FACT

A lot of people in my country think that:

-Adidas, means sports shoes, and have no idea there's a company by that name.
-Xerox, means copy machine, or the act of copying a peace of paper.

And other stuff like that I can't remember right now.

People have been calling copies Xeroxing for a long time. It's because that company invented the process of photocopying and for some time they were the only ones that did it. Just like Post-It notes are always called as such despite it being a product brand name by 3M.

You know I imagined a "shoulder" of anything being something that required being carried upon the shoulder. Like a handle of something has a handle and is a lot. A shoulder would be like a couple gallons or something and maybe have a shoulder strap...

 

[Dan]

It's a pint or a mickey

 

[99.vikram]

Over here we call 180 ml a quarter, and 360 ml a half.

 

[Solaris]

Not 350ml, 1.75L.

**** me for $20 that's a bargain and half! In belfast we call that the weekend.

 

[Ennui]

I've heard a 350ml bottle referred to as a shoulder here in America but very rarely, I can't think of any of my close friends that would say that... but in America we also don't generally buy such small bottles either.

We call the 750mL bottles "fifths" (since they are approx. 1/5 of a gallon) and we call the half gallon 1.75L bottles "handles" since, well, since they have handles on them.

My mainstay is bourbon that's about $20 including tax for a handle. Evan Williams baby.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

I've heard a 350ml bottle referred to as a shoulder here in America but very rarely, I can't think of any of my close friends that would say that... but in America we also don't generally buy such small bottles either.

We call the 750mL bottles "fifths" (since they are approx. 1/5 of a gallon) and we call the half gallon 1.75L bottles "handles" since, well, since they have handles on them.

My mainstay is bourbon that's about $20 including tax for a handle. Evan Williams baby.

I have never heard of a "shoulder" for a particular size and I've always referred to it as a "Three fifty mill bottle." The facts about the other sizes Ennui mentioned, I corroborate.

 

[StarBob]

I've heard a 350ml bottle referred to as a shoulder here in America but very rarely, I can't think of any of my close friends that would say that... but in America we also don't generally buy such small bottles either.

We call the 750mL bottles "fifths" (since they are approx. 1/5 of a gallon) and we call the half gallon 1.75L bottles "handles" since, well, since they have handles on them.

My mainstay is bourbon that's about $20 including tax for a handle. Evan Williams baby.

I'm pretty sure a $20 handle of bourbon is just battery acid in a bottle. Unless you're in Kentucky...