Watching the final day of the Tour de France and the English announcer Phil, nasal Phil, said about some rider 'in Liverpool terms had lost the bottle' - what does this mean - well i figured out what it meant but how did this phrase come to mean this? I'm not sure i heard correct - he may have said lost the boffle?
Liverpudlians - what does this mean? thanks

It's not Liverpudlian, but London. No-one seems to quite know where it comes from. 3 suggestions

1. Rhyming slang:- bottle and glass (arse) ie he's a leetle incontinent from fear.

2. Bottle of Courage (brewery)

3. Bottle man- in the corner in boxing- ie can't be revived.

thanks - Phil actually didn't say it was Liverpudlian but he said 'as they say in Liverpool' - always interesting to find out about word derivations.

I've never heard "lost the bottle" although you hear "lost his bottle" or "bottled out".

well it may well have been he said 'lost his bottle' i don't remember exactly - thanks for taking the time to respond.

Phil did say "lost his bottle."

So PalQ, what does it mean ?

I gather it means he hit the wall.

It means that he lost his courage - previous posted is right, the more common usage is "he bottled out"

The effete southerners are right.

In the definitive guide to how we speak (Fritz Spiegl's "Lern Yerself Scouse&quot, there's no evidence of any Liverpudlian using the term "bottled" until our language was corrupted by those borrowings from Cockney.

But, deeply though it pains me to admit it, "bottled out" and "lost his bottle" are now common in Scouse.

Sic transit gloria...