In message , Dave
Cornwell writes

"Anne Burgess" wrote in message
...
I find it annoying to hear expressions such as "Gordon Brown may be
accused of bottling it if he doesn't call an election". It's the use of
"bottling it" I object to. Shouldn't it be "having second thoughts" or
"becoming apprehensive". Come to that it's like the frequent press use of
the trivialising new verb "to glass" someone". Shouldn't that be "thrust
a broken glass into someone's face maiming them for life". Am I becoming
a snob or a grumpy old man? Probably, yes!!
Dave

Are you sure that it wasn't a mispronunciation of 'bottling out'? I'd have
less of a problem with that than with 'bottling it'. My dictionary says
that the verb 'bottle' is transitive and means to put something in a
bottle.

Anne ------------------
You're all probably right - and I feel better now ;-) Nevertheless I still
object to phrases like "glassing" someone being banded about as though it
was like slapping someone in the face, which seems to be the case for my
local newsspaper.




FWIW, English may be regarded as a family of languages in a constant
state of evolution. I wince at 'different to' and 'bored of' and 'so,
like', but my wincing isn't going to affect the outcome.

What I do relish is that speech Radio Four seems on the whole to be
better pronounced and more articulate than the televised version.








--
Peter Thomas