A question from a Yank

snow scorpion

So I was in Kerry in April and I stopped in at the Supervalu in Ballybunion. When I got home with my purchases I noticed this...



Almost 4 months later I'm still trying to come up with an answer: What other way is there to open a bottle of soda other than "by hand"?

amacachi

Teeth/mouth.

One of those funny bottlecap openers?

Mint Sauce

monkeyfudge

amacachi wrote: »

Teeth/mouth.

Yeah. I'd imagine it's to cover themselves if some kid f*cks up his teeth trying to open a bottle that way... of course they still will.

star-pants

Aye I know people who use teeth to open bottles you need a bottlecap opener to open.

Though I'd say that the 'open by hand' is to explain that you don't need a bottlecap opener also, as some would assume they would.

oldyouth

snow scorpion wrote: »

So I was in Kerry in April and I stopped in at the Supervalu in Ballybunion. When I got home with my purchases I noticed this...



Almost 4 months later I'm still trying to come up with an answer: What other way is there to open a bottle of soda other than "by hand"?

Hi Friend. Can I ask if the soda was sold in a Supervalu regularily visited by Yanks? It might help explain the special edition that Sprite produce for such situations

mathepac

snow scorpion wrote: »

So I was in Kerry in April and I stopped in at the Supervalu in Ballybunion. ...

There's your answer right there. Botties sold in other parts of the country are bereft of unnecessary instructions. The tautological verbiage is absent.

snow scorpion wrote: »

... a bottle of soda ...

Get the terminology righ' bud, righ'? It's a bleedin' bottle a minerals, righ'?

snow scorpion

Open by hand = Don't use a bottle opener or your teeth.

OK. If you guys say so. God knows I couldn't figure it out at all in 4 months. Thanks.

Hi Friend. Can I ask if the soda was sold in a Supervalu regularily visited by Yanks? It might help explain the special edition that Sprite produce for such situations

It is. Ballybunion is a tourist town. There's a world-class golf course there. It even has a life-size statue of Bill Clinton right in front of the Garda station (appropriately enough.)

The tautological verbiage is absent.

Get the terminology righ' bud, righ'? It's a bleedin' bottle a minerals, righ'?

"tautological verbiage"... I like that!

And I got the friggin' terminology right, pal. Lemon-lime flavored sugar water is soda. A "bleedin' bottle a minerals" is a bottle of rocks, soil and/or earthen particulates seeping through cracks in the glass (or plastic), innit?

yermanoffthetv

OP the reason they have to put those "instructions" on even the most unlikely products isnt down to stupidity, sadly is more to do with the suing culture Kellogs were sued for their cornflakes because they didnt come with milk as advertised on the box! Look now youll see "serving suggestion" on any product with a picture. If there isnt clear instructions on everything and I mean EVERYTHING, sooner rather that later youll probably have a lawsuit on your hands.

Miaireland

I was told that there is some air pressure device that you can use to open bottles. However, I was told that it can cause the glass to shatter and hence that is why there is a warning on some bottles.

Is that a flat metal twisty top?

EDude

Couldnt help laughing at this! Stating the obvious, no?
I wouldnt have taken the time to read the cap, just would have opened it by hand anyway!

snow scorpion

Moonbaby wrote: »

Is that a flat metal twisty top?

Nope. Plastic bottle cap.

snow scorpion

snow scorpion wrote: »

Nope. Plastic bottle cap.

Begs the question. Who did what to legally require the company to put such an obvious warning, in such an obvious place. :pac:

spurious

Moonbaby wrote: »

Begs the question. Who did what to legally require the company to put such an obvious warning, in such an obvious place. :pac:

Somebody probably sued and got damages for little Johnny's choppers or burst lip or whatever they claimed was damaged by his unorthodox bottle opening.
The best ones are the coffee cups with 'hot contents' written on them. Daw.

monkeyfudge

Isn't there also packets of peanuts with 'may contain nuts' warnings on them?

Corsendonk

Most likely someone did try to open in an invented way! Same reason why McDonalds have to put hot on there coffee cups. It's always someone elses fault not the customer!

snow scorpion

All right. It seems we have a consensus that a bunch of numbnuts can't figure out how to open a bottle of soda and the Coca-Cola company is just trying to protect itself from lawsuits.

Let me ask a follow-up question: so this bottle cap is not found all over Ireland? It's just in towns and villages that attract a lot of tourists?

Cavehill Red

monkeyfudge wrote: »

Isn't there also packets of peanuts with 'may contain nuts' warnings on them?

I've that warning on my sack, too.

Wolfe Tone

snow scorpion wrote: »

All right. It seems we have a consensus that a bunch of numbnuts can't figure out how to open a bottle of soda and the Coca-Cola company is just trying to protect itself from lawsuits.

Let me ask a follow-up question: so this bottle cap is not found all over Ireland? It's just in towns and villages that attract a lot of tourists?

It is, all over Ireland.

mathepac

snow scorpion wrote: »

... Let me ask a follow-up question: ...

OK, permission granted, but then it seems you try to ask two questions, only one of which is authorised.

snow scorpion wrote: »

... so this bottle cap is not found all over Ireland? ...

Excellent summation but you messed up there at the end with your antepodean interrogative. The basic structure of your sentence indicates (to me at any rate) that it is a statement. In the generally accepted use of English as a spoken (or written) language, statements are are not punctuated with a question-mark (or query if you prefer), unless of course you are :

• female
• Australian
• watch lots of television
• a tooth-grindingly irritating person to converse with
• all of the above.

snow scorpion wrote: »

... It's just in towns and villages that attract a lot of tourists? ...

Refer to previous comments on English and its proper written and spoken form.

If you will allow me to interpret your writing, I thnk what you mean is "The bottle cap is not found all over Ireland, just in towns and villages that attract a lot of tourists"

I would disagree. I'd suggest "The bottle cap is not found all over Ireland, just in towns and villages in Kerry that attract a lot of tourists with English as their second language."

BTW using the "when in Rome" exhortation, "a bottle a minerals" is the colloquial expression for any container of a beverage bereft of alcohol.

The Hill Billy

Back on-topic please.

(mathepac - If you wish to critique other posters' grammar find a more suitable forum. Oh, by the way - I think you meant 'antipodean'. People in glasshouses, eh?)

Thanks,

HB