We got some wine the other day and for some reason I mentioned the punt on one of the bottles being exceptionally large. Claire said she didn\u2019t know the indention on the bottom of the bottle had a name. Well, it does \u2014 it\u2019s called a \u201cpunt.\u201d I\u2019ve also heard it called a kick-up, push-up and dimple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it does have a name and it does have a purpose \u2014 we\u2019ll talk about the purpose another time. Today, let\u2019s talk about why it\u2019s called a punt. I\u2019ll tell you right up front, that I don\u2019t know \u2014 and \u2014 I\u2019m not sure anyone really knows\u2026. but let\u2019s talk about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you look up the word punt, you\u2019ll find that it relates to a flat-bottomed boat and a tactic in American football. Now what the relationship between a flat-bottomed boat, football and the dimple in the bottom of a wine bottle is, I just haven\u2019t figured out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One dictionary I checked actually had 5 definitions:
1. verb \u2014 delay in answering or taking action; equivocate.
2. noun \u2014 a long, narrow, flat-bottomed boat, square at both ends and propelled with a long pole, used on inland waters chiefly for recreation.
3. noun \u2014 A football kick after the ball is dropped from the hands of the player and before it reaches the ground.
4. noun \u2014 informal, a bet
5. noun \u2014 the basic monetary unit of the Republic of Ireland (until replaced by the euro,) equal to 100 Irish pence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
None of the dictionaries that I checked mentioned the word punt as related to wine bottles. But trust me, punt is the name given to the funny concave bump, or dimple at the bottom of a wine bottle. Search as I could, I couldn\u2019t find an explanation that satisfied me. Punt as used with the flat-bottomed boat comes from Latin ponto<\/em>. (That\u2019s also where pontoon<\/em> comes from.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The closest I could come to a reasonable explanation that might explain the \u201chollow\u201d in the bottom of the wine bottle comes from the French word pontil<\/em>, a word for the iron rod that\u2019s used to hold or shape soft glass. The Oxford dictionary says it means a little point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My research also found that glassblowers used to create these dimples, or punts to push the seam of a bottle up, allowing the bottle to stand upright and also preventing glass at the bottom of the bottle from sticking out and cutting people.\u00a0 We got some wine the other day and for some reason I mentioned the punt on one of the bottles being exceptionally large. Claire said she didn\u2019t know the indention on the bottom of the bottle had a name. Well, … Continue reading
I guess this just remains one of those things to ponder\u2026 I never questioned that it was<\/em> called a punt, I just didn\u2019t \u2014 and don\u2019t\u00a0 \u2014 know why<\/em>.\u00a0
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"