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What do we call glasses with thick lenses that people use when they are very near-sighted? Here is a picture of what I mean:

eyeglasses

helen
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  • In German, the equivalent is Glasbaustein (glass block). With a connotation of "ugliness personified". Try an image search for "Glasbaustein" and "hässlich"; the images from the neuperlach.org site are the most archetypical ones I could find. – user82881 Sep 29 '18 at 16:00
  • In French, these are called _[culs-de-bouteille](https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cul-de-bouteille)_ (bottle bottoms/buttocks) – Pac0 Sep 30 '18 at 10:18
  • In Dutch, _jampotglazen_ (jam jar). – CompuChip Oct 01 '18 at 06:21
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    To extend @CompuChip's answer, as a subset of Dutch, in the Antwerp dialect (and possible other Flemish dialects), they are more commonly referred to as "steriliseerbokaaltjes" ([preservation jars](https://www.londonbarandkitchen.com/images/zoom/11372.jpg)). Note the thick glass bottom in the linked image. – Flater Oct 01 '18 at 07:33

6 Answers6

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I would just call them "thick glasses", but I vaguely remember something with the word "bottle". I found "Coke-bottle glasses". Here is a link to an entry from Urban Dictionary, and here's an excerpt from the Coca-Cola Company:

In different regions of the world, eyeglasses with very thick lenses in the frame are called "Coke bottle" glasses -- named after the thick bottoms of Coca-Cola contour bottles.

(Coke bottle eyeglass)

Em.
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    thick glasses is typical. Never heard the Coke thing but it is amusing. – Lambie Sep 27 '18 at 23:21
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    Calling thick lenses *Coke bottle glasses*, if not wholly deprecatory, is certainly not complimentary. – choster Sep 27 '18 at 23:41
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    @Lambie - "Coke-bottle glasses" is the first thing I thought of when I read the question title, and when I saw the OP's picture. There are scores of hits in books, such as: _In 2005, James Turner created Rex Libris, a comic book series featuring the thrilling adventures of a public librarian with Coke-bottle glasses and an arsenal of high-tech weaponry_ (from "Graphic Novels and Comics in Libraries and Archives: Essays on Readers, Research, History and Cataloging", 2010) and _In the summer of 1959, Mike was a skinny 8-year-old known in the neighborhood as the kid with Coke-bottle glasses._ – J.R. Sep 28 '18 at 00:12
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    I would say "Coke-bottle glasses" is more *descriptive* than *derogatory*. As with many expressions, it can be used as an insult, but in and of itself it just means the glasses are *very thick*. It is slang, though, and not appropriate in every context. – Andrew Sep 28 '18 at 06:26
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    In case anyone fails to get the reference: Coca-Cola (and most soft drinks) used to be served in bottles made of thick glass, since they were returned to the vendor, washed, and re-used. – Mike Harris Sep 28 '18 at 14:28
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    I've heard "Coke-bottle lens" before, and while it isn't exactly derogatory, such lens are usually implied to be unattractive (especially when being described by the person wearing them). Also, their presence implies that the wearer's vision is *really bad*. – Arcanist Lupus Sep 28 '18 at 14:49
  • Have you ever seen Mr. Magoo? – Ron Maupin Sep 29 '18 at 02:02
  • @ArcanistLupus - [Here's an interesting blog post](https://www.sanantonio-lasik.com/blog/detail/2014/04/11/no-more-coke-bottle-glasses-for-me.html) supporting your view. – J.R. Sep 29 '18 at 13:18
  • Seems like "_Coke-bottle glasses_" is more verbose, less recognizable, and arguably derogatory, making it a hard sell for concise communication - though I guess those same qualities might be more desirable in entertainment? – Nat Sep 30 '18 at 14:18
  • "coke-bottle glasses" is know by every native English speaker. But it's very, very **old-fashioned**. It's a bit like saying something is "groovy" - it's really dated! – Fattie Sep 30 '18 at 20:20
  • @choster: I get your point about not being complimentary, but there is a point where a certain phrase becomes normalized and loses its deprecatory implication. In Flemish (Dutch dialect), these glasses are called "[preservation jars](https://www.londonbarandkitchen.com/images/zoom/11372.jpg)" (steriliseerbokaaltjes) and it's become so ubiquitous that there's no negative connotation attached to the name anymore. – Flater Oct 01 '18 at 07:35
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Coke-bottle glasses and beer bottle glasses are both American-English expressions. However, if the OP is writing a story set in the British Isles, I would suggest thick glasses, and for a more informal expression, jam-jar glasses.

People with high prescriptions and complicated vision problems – especially those who have worn their glasses for a very long time – may well remember “jam-jar” or “coke-bottle” glasses as an object of embarrassment from their schooldays. Practical, yes – but fashionable?

Check Google Books for more examples of usage.

  • But being short-sighted has its more serious problems. Whoever heard of an airline pilot wearing jam jar glasses?

  • As I jumped out of the car I was met by a man wearing jam jar spectacles, a lab coat and carrying a clipboard. “So, which one is mine?” I asked the egghead. “ (source)

  • She should really be asking forgiveness for those hideous jam jar glasses she wears

@Michael Harvey in the comments, notes that pebble glasses used to be common in British English. Collins Dictionary says

spectacles with round thick lenses with a high degree of magnification

Pebble, also known as Brazilian pebble and rock crystal are transparent colourless quartz crystals and were once used to make lenses for glasses.

enter image description here

Mari-Lou A
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In the UK I have heard the version 'milk-bottle lenses', similar to the previous two answers but referring to the reusable milk bottles that were previously commonly delivered in the morning. Here's a recent headline from the Daily Mail using that version.

Alistair Boynton
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In Finland, such eye-wear is colloquially known as 'bottle-bottom-glasses'

Warm Poppy
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There are many great answers here already which are variations on the same theme.

I just feel I should say that as a native British English speaker living in England all my life of 43 years the most common and frequently used term I have heard is bottle-bottom glasses.

I have never heard "Coke bottle glasses", which sounds like an Americanised version of the same expression to me. But obviously the imagery conjured by all of the answers to this question is similar, and in creative writing they would surely all be instantly recognised and understood.

Not to be dogmatic, but if you are looking for the most familiar expression, my personal opinion is to go with bottle-bottom glasses or glasses with bottle-bottom lenses. To make it even more colloqiual, perhaps substitute "glasses" with "specs".

But really, if you are looking to be creative, any of these could be great. I particularly like "jam-jar glasses" which I haven't heard before but makes me laugh because jam jars are much wider than most bottles so it conjurs up the idea of huge oversized lenses.

Astralbee
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    "Most familiar" is going to depend on the audience, so "bottle-bottom specs" might be the best choice for people who are talking to you and your neighbors, but it would not be a good choice in my part of the US (or any part of the US, so far as I can tell), and might or might not work in Australia, India, Canada, etc. – 1006a Sep 28 '18 at 19:05
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In South India, they're 'soda bottle' glasses. Soda refers to soda water, not pop

Pratik
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