Is the phrase "a bottle of water" something a native English speaker would say?

Question

Consider the following image.

In school, I was taught there are four "bottles of water". Do native English speakers say it that way in everyday life, or would it be better to say "four water bottles"?

Why would you think this is not everyday English? Why are you asking about this phrase and not another one? — James K, Mar 22 '20 at 09:01
@JamesK Because when I searched "bottles of water" I got lots of water bottles. — WXJ96163, Mar 22 '20 at 09:17
"Water bottles" is not as a phrase as "bottles of water" as the latter is mainly used in my experience when referring to clear plastic single-use bottles, while the former also often means reusable ones. — Stormblessed, Mar 22 '20 at 18:28
To add to the fun, there is also a 'hot water bottle' which is not a bottle at all and would never be called a bottle of hot water. — mcalex, Mar 23 '20 at 07:22
@mcalex What makes it "not a bottle at all"? It still fits with the less strict definitions of bottle that I can see. — JMac, Mar 23 '20 at 12:55
@JMac In the sense that if you bought a "water bottle" at an online store, and they sent you a "hot water bottle", you can easily get a refund or dispute the charge as "incorrect merchandise" and no credit card will bat an eye and refund you. Nobody drinks out of a hot water bottle either, since you can never clean it properly with the corners, and it'll most likely have unsanitary build-up inside. — Nelson, Mar 23 '20 at 15:24
@Nelson It's still a "bottle" by the vague definition of bottle. I don't know many people, if anyone, who would buy a "water bottle" without looking up what it looks like, and possibly the materials. If you ordered a water bottle from an online store and they sent you a hot water bottle, it would entirely depend on what the store actually said about the "water bottle" on the site that you ordered from. Also, just because a "hot water bottle" and a "water bottle" usually differ in the implied drinkability of the water; doesn't make the former not a "bottle". — JMac, Mar 23 '20 at 15:56
General bottle definition: "glass or plastic container with a narrow neck, used for storing drinks or other liquids": a hot water bottle is rubber (or previously metal) container, previously they had a large (pan sized lid), and they are used for heating and maintaining heat in the bed/bedclothes. By definition, bottles are 'bottle-shaped'. Would you say a hot water bottle was bottle-shaped? So, yeah, OK if you want to use a vague definition of bottle, it is one, but then how does that differ from just 'container'? — mcalex, Mar 24 '20 at 03:34
Wouldn't a "water bottle" denote only the (possibly empty) container, whereas "bottle of water" means that it contains water (and might in fact even denote an amount of water that could fit into a typicle bottle? — Hagen von Eitzen, Mar 24 '20 at 12:56
@mcalex Generally, it's a capped container where the opening has some sort of necking leading up to it. This would distinguish it from things like buckets, jars, vases; which typically fall short for one reason or another. — JMac, Mar 24 '20 at 13:15
The name "hot water bottle" dates back to a time when it was, in fact, made of glazed earthenware and had a stopper - much like the contemporaneous (e.g.) beer or cider bottles. — Will Crawford, Mar 24 '20 at 14:47
@JMac looks to me like your 'jar' example matches your definition - but we're getting vaguer and vaguer and I'm done. It was just a vaguely humorous comment that let me mention bottles of hot water being != hot water bottles.. — mcalex, Mar 24 '20 at 19:30
@mcalex The reason jars fall short is because the opening is relatively wide; whereas examples of bottles all have a relatively smaller opening than the container dimensions. The definitions of jar typically reference the wide opening. — JMac, Mar 24 '20 at 19:42

score 105 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 23 '20 at 05:42

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Both phrases are idiomatic but they don't mean the same thing. The difference between "water bottles" and "bottles of water" is the water.

Bottles of water have water in them.

Water bottles can be empty.

An empty water bottle is not a bottle of water, though it might be a bottle of air.

edited Mar 23 '20 at 05:42

CJ Dennis

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answered Mar 22 '20 at 15:38

Lawrence

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Also, arguably, a "bottle of water" can still be a bottle of water after you've poured it out of the bottle. Basically it can be interpreted as a unit of measure, whereas a "water bottle" cannot. – Ilmari Karonen Mar 22 '20 at 16:02
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A bottle of water from which the water is poured becomes an empty water bottle. – Michael Harvey Mar 22 '20 at 16:05
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@IlmariKaronen Haha, though that might be pushing it somewhat. Here's the ambiguity: if you emptied 5 bottles of water into a larger bottle, you might say you (still) have 5 bottles of water in the big bottle, but others might claim you now only have 1 bottle of water. The idiomatic disambiguation is to say you have 5 bottles-worth of water in the tank, where bottle is understood to refer to something of a fixed size and shape. – Lawrence Mar 22 '20 at 16:09
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Yeah, a lot of customary everyday measurements can be ambiguous like that. People still use them, though. For instance, the smallest coffee cup I have is probably about one tenth the size of the biggest one (unless you'd consider that one a mug instead of a cup — another rather fuzzy distinction), but like most people I still routinely use expressions like "I've had two cups of coffee this morning." – Ilmari Karonen Mar 22 '20 at 16:17
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@Ilmari Karonen: This is especially annoying in the US, where a cup is a standard unit of measure (0.236588 liter), and most coffee cups are close to that size, yet the manufacturers of coffee makers persist in labelling them in "cups" that are about half that size. – jamesqf Mar 22 '20 at 17:37
Technically an empty bottle would be a bottle of air, but if you're not specifically trying to store air, that description would be a bit misleading. Although most people would understand you're not specifically trying to store air. – NotThatGuy Mar 22 '20 at 20:47
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What do you mean by "...might a bottle of air"? Is a word missing? – Peter Mortensen Mar 23 '20 at 03:47
Its also an empty bottle of water. – speciesUnknown Mar 23 '20 at 09:30
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Also it is normal to say "I put orange juice in my water bottle". "Water bottle" describes a particular type of bottle, not the contents - so a water bottle with orange juice in it does not become an "orange juice bottle". If I was choosing a drink from a shop, they might ask "do you want a bottle of orange juice or a bottle of water?" – Graham Mar 23 '20 at 11:06
@Graham … and you can also put orange juice in your bottle of water should you get tired of the taste of plain water (here, in Italy, orange soda has, by law requirement, at least 12% of orange juice and typically has exactly 12% of orange juice). – gboffi Mar 23 '20 at 14:47
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@MichaelHarvey Not necessarily. If I fill a wine bottle with water, I have a bottle of water. If I pour the water out again, I have an empty wine bottle, not an empty water bottle. "Bottle of X" indicates what the bottle currently contains; "X bottle" indicates what the bottle is generally expected to contain. – Anthony Grist Mar 24 '20 at 09:56

score 44 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 22 '20 at 08:55

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Yes, it's fine in everyday life. For example, in this recent headline from Metro, the free London newspaper:

Panic buyer screams at Tesco staff for refusing to let him buy 24 bottles of water

https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/19/panic-buyer-screams-tesco-staff-refusing-let-buy-24-bottles-water-12424789/

answered Mar 22 '20 at 08:55

richardb

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Thank you. Are there some other alternatives to say it? – WXJ96163 Mar 22 '20 at 09:19
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@WXJ96163 I can't think of any. "Water bottle" sounds like you want to buy a reusable bottle. – richardb Mar 22 '20 at 09:39
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'Bottle of water' is already reduced as much as possible. A bottle. Of water. That's it. – Michael Harvey Mar 22 '20 at 09:46
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@MichaelHarvey: BoW is much shorter. – WoJ Mar 23 '20 at 08:20
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@WoJ sure, but it wouldn't be understood as meaning "bottle of water" without extremely strong contextual hints. – Chris H Mar 23 '20 at 09:19
@richardb Bottled water, water bottle, and bottle of water are all perfectly fine. There might be regional preferences but there's no real set rule. Here is single use plastic being marketed as water bottles : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HMDB1QO/ . It's quite easy to find it phrased the other ways as well . – eps Mar 23 '20 at 20:14
Alternatives to “24 bottles of water” include “four 6-packs of water” and “a case of water”. These may be ambiguous, as different brands may be packaged different ways. – Scott - Слава Україні Mar 24 '20 at 00:15

score 31 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 22 '20 at 16:22

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You can see the same structure used with all sorts of English phrases, e.g.

Bottle of beer vs beer bottle
Soda can vs can of soda
Packet of crisps vs crisp packet
Paint tin vs tin of paint

If you say "water bottle" you're using "water" as an adjective to describe the type of bottle it is — a bottle (usually) used to store water. So that could be a branded bottle (e.g. Evian) or a reusable bottle that people refill from a water cooler or tap.

If you say "bottle of water" you're putting emphasis on the state of things — there is some water in the bottle, (but you're not commenting on the type of bottle).

So you could say:

Can I put cooking oil in a water bottle?

— Reddit: /r/NoStupidQuestions

This person is asking if they can put oil into a disposable bottle normally used for water (water bottle). If they do, we could say it's a "bottle of oil" even though it's in a water bottle :)

answered Mar 22 '20 at 16:22

anotherdave

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And there is a (too!) well-known song about "99 bottles of beer on the wall" but not about "99 beer bottles ..." – dave_thompson_085 Mar 23 '20 at 00:55
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@dave_thompson_085 - Don't pass them around!!! Social distancing!!! – Hot Licks Mar 24 '20 at 22:26
To add to this: if I bought a bottle of Budweiser, poured the beer out, then filled it up with water, I would have "a beer bottle full of water". "an X bottle" can refer to the design of the bottle and/or the liquid it's supposed to hold, even if it's filled with something different. – GMA Mar 25 '20 at 10:08
Although come to think of it, you can say "a beer bottle" and a "bottle of water", but it sounds a bit unnatural to say "a beer bottle of water" (without adding "full" like in my previous comment.) – GMA Mar 25 '20 at 10:11

score 14 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 22 '20 at 23:05

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A bottle of water is any bottle that currently contains water.

A water bottle is a bottle designed/intended to hold water. If you get an empty Coke bottle and put water in it, it's a "bottle of water" but not a "water bottle".

Now people do reuse purchased bottles of water and those do get called water bottles, but if you say "water bottle" most people will usually think of a product purchased without water, usually made from heavy duty plastic or steel.

_{Photo by Amraepowell}

answered Mar 22 '20 at 23:05

curiousdannii

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The modern mariner buys 24 water bottles. "Bottles, bottles, everywhere, but not a drop to drink." – Mar 23 '20 at 14:42
Although if you customarily use that specific Coke bottle to hold water it may become a 'water bottle', and least to people who know what you usually use it for. – Richard Ward Mar 25 '20 at 10:40

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 22 '20 at 22:28

A bottle of water is a bottle with water in it. A water bottle is a bottle that is used to hold water whether or not it contains water right now.

This applies to many containers that hold liquids: a teapot, a pot of tea; a paint bucket, a bucket of paint; a wine glass, a glass of wine.

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 23 '20 at 15:03

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Agreed with Curiousdanii, but with one clarification. A "water bottle" is always a multi-use item, not a single use plastic bottle. Even when empty or when something else is in it, it's still a "water bottle" and is referred to as such. Even is someone refilled a crinkly plastic single use bottle and is using it as a "water bottle", it's only obvious if you're pointing to it when you say "Hand me my water bottle." Otherwise I'd look around for a metal or hard plastic one until they said, "that one there!". A plastic bottle of water is usually referred to as "bottled water" (at least where I'm from) and is referred to that way "How much for a bottled water?", or can be "How much for a bottle of water?", but "How much for the water bottle?" is almost always said with trepidation referring to an overpriced contraption with special insulation or at least an easy open non-spill top.

answered Mar 23 '20 at 15:03

Wayne

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The second sentence really isn't correct: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_bottle#Single-use_plastic . It's probably a phrase that is used differently between regions and groups. – eps Mar 23 '20 at 20:00
Actually, these days water bottles rarely contain insulation. Rather, there's two layers of metal with a vacuum between. We used to use insulation because the vacuum devices were easy to break, but now they're rugged enough that they have pretty much replaced insulation. – Loren Pechtel Mar 24 '20 at 04:50
@eps Yes that seems to be specifically a USA thing. – Asteroids With Wings Mar 24 '20 at 16:40
I don't think it's wrong, at least in the UK, to say "a water bottle" to talk about an empty single-use plastic bottle. E.g. I have a few big empty "single-use" bottles that I've saved in a cupboard which I fill up to take on camping trips etc.. If I was packing for one of these trips it wouldn't be wrong to say "don't forget to fill up the water bottles!" – GMA Mar 25 '20 at 10:14

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 23 '20 at 05:58

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“Bottle of water” refers to the container and its contents.

“Water bottle” refers to the container.

answered Mar 23 '20 at 05:58

MPW

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score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Mar 24 '20 at 23:16

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A water bottle is a bottle for water[1].

A bottle of water is water in a bottle.

Bottle bottle bottle bottle bottle.

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[1] But not necessarily containing water.

answered Mar 24 '20 at 23:16

onacosmicscale

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Thx. What does [1] mean? – WXJ96163 Mar 25 '20 at 00:04
Refers to the footnote with the same number at the bottom. – onacosmicscale Mar 26 '20 at 04:21

score -1 · Answer 9 · answered Mar 23 '20 at 14:51

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In an era of hypermarkets this distinction has been lost but once you had to visit two different places to buy a bottle of water and a water bottle.

answered Mar 23 '20 at 14:51

gboffi

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Is the phrase "a bottle of water" something a native English speaker would say?

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