# How come it isn't "I'm a Little Teakettle?"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-it-isnt-im-a-little-teakettle/641086>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [November 15, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-it-isnt-im-a-little-teakettle/641086 "2012-11-15T15:09:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-it-isnt-im-a-little-teakettle/641086/21 "2012-12-03T02:32:09Z")

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I suppose, then, that it isn’t important that the two words appear to have been regarded as interchangeable _ca._ 1705. Heigh-ho!

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-it-isnt-im-a-little-teakettle/641086/22 "2012-12-03T02:50:29Z")

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I can buy that the author maybe wasn’t a tea drinker, and knew what teapots were shaped like, and knew that kettles whistle, but didn’t know the difference between the two.

And seriously, the song is that recent? I had no clue.

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**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-it-isnt-im-a-little-teakettle/641086/23 "2012-12-03T03:18:15Z")

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Dry tea sold for home consumption wasn’t widely available in England in 1705, so it’s not really surprising they didn’t distinguish between the two. Teakettles and teapots weren’t in common use outside of tearooms. Once they were more popularly established later that century, were they still routinely called by the same name?

> [@Chronos](#):
>
> And seriously, the song is that recent? I had no clue.

Surprised me too!

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-it-isnt-im-a-little-teakettle/641086/24 "2012-12-03T15:12:14Z")

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> [@Eliahna](#):
>
> Dry tea sold for home consumption wasn’t widely available in England in 1705, so it’s not really surprising they didn’t distinguish between the two. Teakettles and teapots weren’t in common use outside of tearooms. Once they were more popularly established later that century, were they still routinely called by the same name?

I can’t find evidence that it was, but I don’t have enough to say that it wasn’t, either.

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**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-it-isnt-im-a-little-teakettle/641086/25 "2012-12-03T22:48:33Z")

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> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#):
>
> I can’t find evidence that it was, but I don’t have enough to say that it wasn’t, either.

I read that kettles were in common use by 1756 for heating water for any use. It would surprise me if the terms were still interchangeable by the time kettles were a common household item and were routinely used for non-tea purposes.

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