Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 171

The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored….

Island

I have absolutely nothing to add to this, but it’s a charming definition, “he drank out of the bottle till he saw the island; the island is the rising bottom of a wine bottle, which appears like an island in the centre, before the bottle is quite empty”. The only comment about this is that I wondered why they have these indentations, and apparently it’s historic and no longer necessary. It was just easier for glass blowers to ensure that bottles stayed upright if they could fold the bottom of the bottle in. Or at least that’s what I found on-line, so it must be true…..