# carton / pot / container of yoghurt [yogurt]



## kuleshov

Do you use both names interchangeably when referring to the typical container? Or, are there any differences? Can a CARTON/POT be made of any material? Plastic, glass, etc.

Cheers


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## domangelo

I would call a yogurt container a tub in English. I would call it a pot only if I were speaking French.


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## Loob

A carton is this; while a pot is this (when it's not this or this....)

In BrE milk, orange juice etc come in cartons; yoghurt comes in pots


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## MagdaDH

I have a feeling that, as far as dairy containers go, pot is (approximately) round while carton is square...yoghurt pots are usually either plastic or tetrapack cardboard (ie covered with metal foil & plastic inside). But they are still pots. If I heard a carton of yoghurt it would suggest an unusual, probably square and quite likely large (ie milk-carton-looking) container. 

Carton is cardboard, at least partially, and it's the word used for milk containers which are not bottles (bottles are nowadays usually plastic, but can be glass). 

Generally:
_*pot of yoghurt
carton/bottle of milk
carton of juice
tub of margarine
bar of butter
tub of ice cream (but box is also possible)
tube of tomato pure
*_


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## Loob

I agree with Magda's list, except that I don't think I could say "box" of icecream ("tub" is fine); and for me it's a "packet" of butter, not a "bar".


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## kuleshov

Shall we say a pot of yoghurt in the UK and a tub of yoghurt in the USA? meaning the same container?


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## Loob

Sounds good to me, kuleshov


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## domangelo

kuleshov said:


> Shall we say a pot of yoghurt in the UK and a tub of yoghurt in the USA? meaning the same container?



This is my impression. I don't think that we ever use "pot" for such small containers in AE (though others may disagree.) Thus, a tub of yogurt (the more common spelling in AE) and a jar of jam.


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## Packard

Yogurt (without the silly "h") is sold in "cups" in the USA.

Even the Dannon website calls them "cups", and that would be the tapered cylindrical plastic containers with a removable lid.

I would always call them "containers" myself.  

*I think I will have a container of strawberry yogurt.*

*I think I will have a cup of strawberry yogurt.*

(From now on I will call them cups; fewer keystrokes--and I speak in keystrokes nowadays).


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## nzfauna

I use "*a pottle of yoghurt/a yoghurt pottle*".


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## KHS

kuleshov said:


> Shall we say a pot of yoghurt in the UK and a tub of yoghurt in the USA? meaning the same container?


 
What others are calling a "pot" of yoghurt I would call a "container" of yoghurt in my variety of AE.  And a stick of butter (or a pound, or a 'pat' when it's the single serving size found in restaurants).  Also a "container" of ice cream.

And we have very few tubes of things in the US - maybe anchovy paste or toothpaste - although my life as a cook is pretty much limited to nuking vegetables in the microwave, so there may have been changes that I'm not aware of.

Sometimes we get milk or juice in one-gallon plastic jugs (they have a handle on one side).


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## Loob

It seems clear, kuleshov, that you're going to have to decide which variety of English you want!


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## kuleshov

I like them all. I find it fascinating, actually. Just a simple container and so many different words to refer to it. I don't have  a lot of free time, but if I did, I would even start researching the etymology. One of my favourite documentary series is The Adventure of English!!!

Thank you world!!!


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## ewie

nzfauna said:


> I use "*a pottle of yoghurt/a yoghurt pottle*".


 
You _would_


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## KHS

Actually, I have been seriously considering adopting "pottle."  

However, the Merriam Webster online dictionary says:
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Main Entry: pot·tle 
Function: _noun_ 
Etymology: Middle English _potel,_ from Anglo-French, from _pot_ 
Date: 14th century 
*:* a container holding a half gallon (1.9 liters)
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In New Zealand, does it continue to have the half gallon (1.9 litre) sense?


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## ewie

That would be a _lot_ of yoghurt, KHS!


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## KHS

ewie said:


> That would be a _lot_ of yoghurt, KHS!


 
*just* what I was thinking...


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## cycloneviv

I started reading this thread thinking that in AusE I definitely say "a tub of yoghurt", but by the time I got to the end I'd become hopelessly confused. I _think_ that's what I'd say, but usually I avoid the issue:

_Can you grab me the yoghurt out of the fridge?
I got some vanilla yoghurt from the supermarket the other day. It's really nice!
_


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## kuleshov

When I visit : http://www.thefoodhall.es/ for example, I don't know where to find yogurt. I thought I'd find it in "desserts."

Which category do you usually hit when you go shopping for yogurt online?

Why the way, in Spain, even though we have a word referring to a yogurt container, nobody uses it; we simply say  a yogurt, 2 yogurts...  What about in your countries?

Cheers


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## LV4-26

kuleshov said:


> Why the way, in Spain, even though we have a word referring to a yogurt container, nobody uses it; we simply say  a yogurt, 2 yogurts...  What about in your countries?


Same here. We never use any name of container in French: _I'll have a yogurt_.
It seems we only ever use "a pot of yogurt" as an image to describe a very small car (the Austin Mini Cooper type).


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## Loob

Well, I can't say I *never* use the word for the container...

This morning I had a yoghurt for breakfast.  Then I put the pot in the bin.


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## cycloneviv

After some hour's cogitation, I've changed my mind. If I mentioned the box-thing it was in, I would most likely say "a container of yoghurt". 

For example, I'd say:

_Did you rinse out the yoghurt container before you put it in the recycling?

I grabbed a container of Greek yoghurt on the way home and made a delicious smoothy for lunch.
_


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## out2lnch

I've never heard 'pot' used, and would refer to it as a container as well. This would mostly be once it was empty, and looking to be recycled. Otherwise, either it is not called anything: "pass me a yogurt", or the ill-defined 'thing': "I had a thing of yogurt".

We also use 'cup' to refer to the little ones.


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## chenqiyouxian

<This discussion has been added to a previous thread.  Cagey, moderator> 

Hi everyone,how do I say that(in picture1) in English? A pack of yogurt? a carton of yogurt(in picture2)?


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## dermott

1. A pack of yoghurt; a six-pack of yoghurt (though six-pack is usually associated with alcohol)
2. A carton of yoghurt


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## You little ripper!

I call them _either a small container _or_ a small tub of yoghurt._


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## brofeelgood

2) A tub of yoghurt.


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## You little ripper!

dermott said:


> a six-pack of yoghurt (though six-pack is usually associated with alcohol)



I would turn it around so that it's less likely to be associated with alcohol - _a yoghurt six-pack_.


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## ewie

(1) A pack of six yoghurts.
(2) A pot of yoghurt.


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## Myridon

A multi-pack of yogurt.  (Usually spelled without the 'h' in American English.)
A carton of yogurt. or just A yogurt.


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## RedwoodGrove

A carton of yoghurt. ONE container.


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## TrentinaNE

As is often the case, it depends on where you are speaking English.    In AmerEng, the single serving is a carton or a container or, as Myridon noted, simply "a yogurt."  It would not be called a tub or pot, which seem to be BritEng usages.


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## panjandrum

In some online sites, (1) is simply referred to as a 6x125g red fruit variety pack.

Informally, we would call (2) a big pot of <specification of yogurt variety>.

(No h in yogurt, most of the time, here.)


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## chenqiyouxian

dermott said:


> 1. A pack of yoghurt; a six-pack of yoghurt (though six-pack is usually associated with alcohol)
> 2. A carton of yoghurt


Thanks a lot,dermott


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## chenqiyouxian

Myridon said:


> A multi-pack of yogurt.  (Usually spelled without the 'h' in American English.)
> A carton of yogurt. or just A yogurt.


Thanks a lot,Myridon


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## chenqiyouxian

ewie said:


> (1) A pack of six yoghurts.
> (2) A pot of yoghurt.


Thanks a lot,ewie


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## JamesM

TrentinaNE said:


> As is often the case, it depends on where you are speaking English.    In AmerEng, the single serving is a carton or a container or, as Myridon noted, simply "a yogurt."  It would not be called a tub or pot, which seem to be BritEng usages.



I don't think I've ever used carton for the small container.  "A yogurt" or "a cup of yogurt" or "a container of yogurt" are all fine with me.


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## Oswinw011

[This post and the following ones have been added to a previous thread on the same topic.  DonnyB - moderator]
Great Value Plain Nonfat Yogurt, 32 oz - Walmart.com
Hi, everyone
How would you describe the yogurt in picture with a quantifier?
A cup of yogurt, a can of yogurt?


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## Enquiring Mind

Hi Oswinw011, a *tub* of yogurt or a *pot* of yogurt.


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## Loob

Given that the link may stop working at some point, I'm reproducing the image here:

I'd call it a *carton of yog(h)urt*.

Edit: I see I've changed my mind since 2008


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## Oswinw011

Thank you for the considerate picture, loob.
Thanks Enquiring Mind.


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## RandomQuestion

My first thought is just "yog(h)urt".
One yoghurt, two yoghurts etc.
More specifically that would be a"pot of yog(h)urt" though.
A cup of yog(h)urt sounds like you are having it outside of its original packaging.


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## Oswinw011

Thanks RandomQuestion, loob.


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## kentix

I'd call it a one-quart container of yogurt.

If I was asking someone to buy it I'd say, "Get some vanilla yogurt. The quart size."


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## Roxxxannne

kentix said:


> I'd call it a one-quart container of yogurt.
> 
> If I was asking someone to buy it I'd say, "Get some vanilla yogurt. The quart size."


Same here.


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## kentix

I just took a closer look at the container, Roxxxannne. It's 32 ounces in weight, i.e. two pounds. (That's in parentheses.) So I guess it's probably not a quart.

But I don't think I'd ever talk about buying two pounds of yogurt.


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## Roxxxannne

kentix said:


> I just took a closer look at the container, Roxxxannne. It's 32 ounces in weight, i.e. two pounds. (That's in parentheses.) So I guess it's probably not a quart.
> 
> But I don't think I'd ever talk about buying two pounds of yogurt.


Yes, although if you were speaking to the person who purchases the yogurt I eat, 'quart' would work.  Actually, 'a big thing of yogurt' is the standard term here in this particular locale.
Incidentally, I think the less spelling 'yoghurt' might come from a now less-common way to represent the Turkish pronunciation.


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## JulianStuart

kentix said:


> I just took a closer look at the container, Roxxxannne. It's 32 ounces in weight, i.e. two pounds. (That's in parentheses.) So I guess it's probably not a quart.
> 
> But I don't think I'd ever talk about buying two pounds of yogurt.


The difference in weight between 32 oz and 32 fl oz (aka a quart) of fluid is very small for water and will vary with the density of the fluid (apparently, typical yoghurt has a density of about 1.03 g/ml)


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## london calling

I say a 'pot' of yoghurt. A small pot, a large pot, a 500 gram pot, etc.

This is interesting (notoneoffbritishisms.com). I quote:

_That made me remember that in Britain, a single-serving receptacle of yog(h)urt is called a pot, whereas I would just call it a container. _

If you scroll down the page the author's done the Ngrams as well.


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## kentix

I figured it might be close, because of that, but it's packaged in pounds so that's what they aim for.


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