3
   

Bottle up the courage

Forums: Esl
Email this Topic • Print this Page
 
 
paok1970
 
Reply Sat 3 Feb, 2018 04:22 am
Is the following sentence correct?

He didn't bottle up the courage to ask her out.

Thank you for your kind help.
  • Topic Stats
  • Top Replies
  • Link to this Topic
Type: Discussion • Score: 3 • Views: 594 • Replies: 7
No top replies

 
centrox
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Feb, 2018 04:29 am
Bottle up is a very casual, very informal UK slang expression meaning to find courage. No need therefore to mention courage again. He didn't bottle up enough to ask her out.
izzythepush
 
  2  
Reply Sat 3 Feb, 2018 05:08 am
@paok1970,
The phrase 'bottle it,' means to lose one's nerve.

Quote:
Did Brown bottle it?

By Krishnan Guru-Murthy

Updated on 07 October 2007.

David Cameron has accused the Prime Minister of treating the British people as fools, by ruling out a snap election this autumn..


Mr Brown defended his decision, saying it would have been very easy to call an election, but he wanted time to show his policies working in practice.

But the Conservative leader claimed Mr Brown hadn't been straight with people over his reasons. And even ministers have conceded the whole episode may have damaged him.

Gordon Brown's nickname changed today. Out went "the big clunking fist", in came "Brown the bottler". One suspects the Prime Minister would rather have stuck with the old one.

Protestors outside Downing Street may have enjoyed themselves but David Cameron did not lower himself today to utter the cockney word "bottler".


http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/domestic_politics/did+brown+bottle+it/889447.html

The origin of the phrase is disputed. This is a link to a discussion about it in The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-200505,00.html
0 Replies
 
maxdancona
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Feb, 2018 11:37 am
@paok1970,
That's very interesting.

In the United States we "bottle up" our emotions... for example bottling up your fear would mean that you ignored it and refused to accept it. We bottle up anger, and shame.

I have never heard of "bottling up" courage.


0 Replies
 
camlok
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Feb, 2018 12:47 pm
@centrox,
Neither Oxford or Collins give that sort of definition of the phrasal 'bottle up'.
0 Replies
 
izzythepush
 
  0  
Reply Sat 3 Feb, 2018 01:31 pm
Bottle as courage.



Americans know next to nothing about our vernacular.
camlok
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Feb, 2018 08:43 pm
@izzythepush,
Quote:
Americans know next to nothing about our vernacular.


I'll bet that Oxford and MacMillan do know a wee bit.
0 Replies
 
layman
 
  0  
Reply Sat 3 Feb, 2018 09:14 pm
@centrox,
centrox wrote:

Bottle up is a very casual, very informal UK slang expression meaning to find courage. No need therefore to mention courage again. He didn't bottle up enough to ask her out.

Round these here parts, whiskey is sometimes referred to as "courage in a bottle."

Given that, I guess bottling up courage would mean guzzlin a shitload of whiskey, eh?
0 Replies
 
 

Related Topics

Does " has not grappled with" refer to "has not made efforts to answer"? - Question by oristarA
Does "by a factor of more than 10" mean "10 times more"? - Question by oristarA
a wearied security guard argued with residents desperate to check on their apartments as a dog...? - Question by oristarA
Is the expression "yet from front, mediocre" okay? - Question by oristarA
Failed to get the use of "what" here: in terms of some model what I am going to describe... - Question by oristarA
Which one sounds better? - Question by kuben123
Is the sentence right? - Question by Fantastic Monster
alternative way - Question by Nousher Ahmed
What is the meaning of "shbang" in these sentences? - Question by kathy79
Failed to understand the meaning of "only" here - Question by oristarA
English tense - Question by jonnywalker00
 
  1. Forums
  2. » Bottle up the courage
Copyright © 2024 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.03 seconds on 04/26/2024 at 09:02:18
▲ ▼