Re: spade and shovel (was [romconlang] -able)

ROGER MILLS wrote:
> Endless trove of trivia, eh??
>
> Tristan wrote:
>> I'm told an electric kettle is in the US a jug (I think).
>
> Never heard  that; it's just an electic kettle.
>
> A jug to me is
>> most frequently a 1140 mL vessel of beer (that is, "jug" like "pot"
>> (something around 350 mL) or "pint" (570 mL) has a standard size).
>
> Never heard it used in the US w.r.t. beer; nor is there much
> standardization. I'm not sure how much beer one got in the standard glass of
> draft beer at a bar-- likely 8 oz.; I do recall that in England a pint in a
> pub was _a lot_ of beer by our standards......Glad to say that bars are
> getting a little more generous in their portions these days.
A "glass" of beer is 200 mL. Glasses are pretty rare --- a pot is the
most common -- on checking, actually 285 mL, or half an imperial pint.

> Many products used to come in 1 lb.jars/cans, but they gradually got reduced
> in size though the price remains the same. The standard can/package of
> coffee (1 lb way back when) is now 11 oz.
That's inflation for you... On the other hand large jars of Vegemite are
still 455 g. I would've thought they could get around to retooling
everything to cope with 500 g jars in the 30-whatever years it's been
since we metricated, but apparently not.

> In the old days a jug was made of ceramic, had a little handle and a short
> narrow neck that took a cork. The came in various sizes, 2 qts up to a
> gallon (4 qts) or even more. Some of the more interesting ones have neat
> designs in the glaze; they're quite collectible and can cost $$$ depending
> on age.
>
> Nowadays booze and cheap wine often come in "jugs" either plastic or glass,
> with/without a handle, usually 1.75 qts or 1.5 litres, usually with a
> screw-top (booze, real cheap wine) or a cork (the better class of cheap
> wine)...(And then there's wine in boxes...total plonk).
If cheap wine is not booze, then what is? I gather that screw-top lids
and casks (as we call the bag the wine in a box is in) are both better
at keeping wine good than corks; I'm told that screw-top lids are much
more common in Australia and better received here than in America, but
cask wine is here as there the cheap stuff.

>> Although it could be any other similar (open top/lidless!) vessel
>> regardless of size and content too, if needs be.
>
> I think that would be a _crock_ (old, ceramic, could be quite big-- I've
> seen 5 gal. versions), also collectible and $$$. Some had a ceramic lid that
> rarely survives; otherwise I think you closed them with a cloth.  If glass,
> just a _jar_ .  I'd be surprised if "crock" is used anymore, except in the
> expression "That (~so and so) is a crock of sh*t"
A jug is usually glass (at a pub) or plastic (at home).

--
Tristan.