Is "plastic glass" as a container a valid expression?
In another question here (sanity of a plastic glass!) the term "plastic glass" is being used which sounds somewhat odd to me, but has not been brought into question by any respondents.
Maybe it is has to do with the fact that my mother tongue is German where a "Glass" is always made from glass, while a plastic cup would be be "Plastikbecher". (which would translate into plastic cup.)
Can anyone confirm this for me?
Solution 1:
Only a slight addition to what's been said before, but I think it adds something.
A plastic glass (in the UK) would normally be used to refer to a plastic substitute for a drinking vessel usually made of glass (e.g. for picnics/camping or at concerts), and would normally be transparent (though as with glass glasses, many styles exist, translucent coloured wine "glass"es being quite common in camping shops).
A plastic cup may be provided for water, terrible coffee, etc. and is often white, though sometimes (for water) is transparent. IME this is always a disposable cup. A camping coffee cup made of plastic would be a plastic mug (and shaped like a normal mug), while a vessel for soft drinks might (in the UK, but not the US) be a beaker (the qualifier plastic isn't really needed there), with childish implications.
Finally for another meaning of glasses, "plastic glasses" can be used to refer to spectacles with plastic lenses, or with plastic frames.
Solution 2:
Sure. Why not? A chamois cloth needn't be made of chamois leather. A wood golf club needn't be made of wood. In Britain, a copper (2p or 5p coin) isn't made of copper. And my glasses have plastic lenses.
If you want to be pedantic about it, you can call it a clear, plastic beaker. But in that case, make sure the polymer the beaker is made from is a thermoplastic polymer, rather than a thermoset...
Solution 3:
Whilst there are already correct answers I thought I would add some further illustration:
A Google search for "plastic glasses" (with the quote marks) returns almost a million results. Of the top results returned, a large selection are from retailers selling "plastic glasses".
Your question title asks if the term is valid for a container. The answer is absolutely yes.
In British English it is very common; I will defer to an American friend to clarify its usage in the States.
Here, in the Manchester Evening News, the term plastic glasses is used as you would expect.
Police are advising pubs and clubs to use plastic glasses and employ extra door staff for Monday night’s crunch Manchester derby.
The term has also been used here by the BBC:
A proposal to extend the use of plastic drinks glasses to all pubs in the Highlands has been dropped.
As I mentioned in an earlier comment, the term plastic glasses is used regularly at concerts and sporting events.
You may well have asked for a glass of wine at the rock gig but you wouldn't be surprised if it was served in a plastic vessel of some description.
Solution 4:
From dictionary.com, see item #4.
- a hard, brittle, noncrystalline, more or less transparent substance produced by fusion, usually consisting of mutually dissolved silica and silicates that also contain soda and lime, as in the ordinary variety used for windows and bottles.
- any artificial or natural substance having similar properties and composition, as fused borax, obsidian, or the like.
- something made of such a substance, as a windowpane.
- a tumbler or other comparatively tall, handleless drinking container.
- glasses, Also called eyeglasses. a device to compensate for defective vision or to protect the eyes from light, dust, and the like, consisting usually of two glass or plastic lenses set in a frame that includes a nosepiece for resting on the bridge of the nose and two sidepieces extending over or around the ears
It's worth noting that the merriam-webster.com & the oxforddictionaries.com sites reserve "glass" for a drinking vessel made from glass. But this has definitely become a popular (although lazy) saying for any type of relatively tall, handleless drinking vessel.