The Catsup Bottle

The Catsup Bottle - meaning Summary

Playful Impatience Observed

Nash compresses a small, comic observation into two short lines. The poem contrasts expectation and delay through a playful coinage: "lottle" suggests that what begins as "little" becomes elongated or sluggish. It evokes everyday frustration—the slow flow of a catsup bottle—while also poking fun at language and pronunciation. The brevity and wordplay produce a light, wry moment rather than a sustained argument or narrative.