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

[John_W.Kennedy]

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

[Chronos]

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.

[Cazzle]

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!

[John_W.Kennedy]

@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.

[Cazzle]

@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.