Looking at the question "How do I instruct my daughter to drink water from a bottle from 'up'!", I suddenly struck a question.
If that girl has drunk water by touching her lips and then if any other person comes to drink that water, what should I say?
Don't drink, it is 'used' water?
Please note that I'm not talking about germs or contamination. Here, I just want to know that someone else has already drunk from the bottle.
In Hindi, we have a word/noun for that. And, it works not only for bottle but also for food.
For instance, if I have a Kit-Kat. I licked it just once (the thing is intact, unbroken, I did not bite it) and kept it in my plate and went somewhere for a moment. My wife comes and sees the chocolate-coated wafer in the plate. She takes and is about to put it in her mouth. You, being in front of her, stops her… Whoa, that's Ruchir's. She may then reply… "Oh, okay" and keeps it back.
Kit-kat is just an international example I came up with! That's because others here may not be aware of Indian dishes that we eat with our hands. For instance, khichdi. You never know whether someone has already eaten from the plate. So, you may 'replace' khichdi with kit-kat above!
I am eager to know the native speakers' answer about this. Is there any word that describes someone has already drunk/eaten from that bottle/dishes.
J.R.'s comment about someone having mouth on it is perfect for drink/bottle. But …food?
Thank You.
Best Answer
As a native speaker, I wonder: is the problem with the water, or with the bottle?
That said, a few expressions come to mind. The first one is the most direct:
The second is more of a euphemism than a scientific fact:
(We don't know for a fact that the water has any contaminants, but the word germs is often used to refer to unseen microorganisms that could spread disease, particularly in informal speech.)
Because the concern is mainly with someone else drinking from the bottle, you could also say:
TFD labels this definition of backwash as "informal", while the Urban Dictionary says:
As a footnote, the adjective for drinkable water is potable, though anyone who would deem bottled water as non-potable simply because someone else drank from the bottle is probably using extreme hyperbole, or else is an overly sensative germaphobe.