To lose from a winning position through nerves — 'bottled it', 'bottlers', 'bottle job' — old British slang that became football Twitter's favourite verdict after Liverpool's 2014 title run ended in a Gerrard slip and a 3–3 draw at Crystal Palace. The record's entry for the word applied to every collapse since, fairly or not.
The record notes 'bottled it' is applied to any lead lost, any final missed, and any penalty put over the bar, and that its opposite — 'held their nerve' — is used roughly a tenth as often.
'Bottled it' as a reply to a picture of a man's dropped ice cream, in 2023. The record notes the man had, in fairness, been two-nil up.
What does it mean? Write it the way you would say it out loud.
